Gang Related
by Demelza
Summary: (not for those who don't like Goliath and Elisa NOT being together) While searching for answers to a shooting that happened one year ago, Elisa and Matt find that the discoveries they make are better left buried in the past when they discover the truth is


GANG RELATED  
Written by Demelza Watt

****

Disclaimer's:  
The Gargoyles characters and place names used here in this story belong to Disney/Buena Vista.   
The Pretender characters and place names used here within this story belong to NBC. No Copyright infringements intended. This is just fan fiction written for entertainment, for both myself and other fans in the fandom. Any and all new characters and place names also belong to me. Any likeness to any real persons or places is purely coincidental, this is a work of pure fiction.

****

Warning:  
This story contains low-level violence and/or offensive language.

  


****

Manhattan, New York City  
18 December 1999  
10:30 AM

Elisa looked at her reflection in the side view mirror, her dark pigmented skin was damp from tears, her ebony hair sprawled across her shoulders, her brown eyes still aching from the crying she had been doing in the early hours of the morning. 

She had been lost in her dreams of being happily married with children when she awoke to the nightmare that she lived day after day. There was no marriage, no family… no happiness in her life. Only pain. As there had been for the last few years. 

Though she had found some kind of happiness with Goliath, they had grown apart in recent months, her visits to the castle had became less and less frequent. And every day she lived a life of fear… fear that she would lose what she had left of her dreams and hopes. Fear that she would never experience the joys of motherhood…

__

Elisa looked at Doctor Sato, tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks, "There is a chance that you may still be able to conceive, but because the bullet richachaid… I'm sorry, but a seven point eight percent chance is all I can give you. In time, that percentage may grow, but I fear that it may not increase by much. I'm sorry Elisa." He told her. 

It was all like a bad dream, flashes of the words he'd just said echoed in her mind. 'A seven point eight percent chance is all I can give you… I fear that it may not increase by much…' _Elisa closed her eyes tightly, more tears streamed out. She wept into her hands, rocking back and forth in her bed, "It's not fair…" She cried._

Elisa wiped the tears from her eyes, with fears of never experiencing motherhood came fears of never getting married. _Who wants to marry a woman who might never be able to have children?_

Looking out the side window of the Ford Fairlane she waited and wondered where her partner was. "Twenty minutes already." She said, taking a look at her watch, _ten thirty six_.

Just then the passenger door opened, her partner Matt climbed in and sat down. He closed the door and let out a sigh. His brow was as damp with sweat as the ground was covered with snow. "Sorry I took so long partner, but when a man's got to do what a man's got to do… well you know?"

"I get the idea." Elisa laughed, "Are you alright?" She asked with concern as the smile on his face faded.

A cold gust of wind blew past the car and hail begun thundering down on the roof of the car. Matt loosened his tie and unbuttoned his top collar button, "Yeah, I'm okay… hey, you've been crying."

"Just a little." Elisa smiled, "I've been thinking about what Doctor Sato and I talked about a few days after I came out of surgery. Back when I was shot in my apartment. I ah… it's not that important."

"You sure?" Matt asked.

Elisa nodded, "Yeah." She replied.

Matt wasn't so sure that she was okay, but if she said she was, who was he to argue with her? "That's good… listen, Elisa, do you remember Glasses?" 

Elisa slammed a clenched fist into the steering wheel, "Shit yeah. That son of a…" She said with gritted teeth. She soon stopped herself realising that she shouldn't be losing her cool. The guy had been arrested and was now serving his sentence for the crimes he'd done. "Why?" She asked with hostility.

Matt turned around on his seat to face his partner, "I think I saw him. Him and a bunch of Dracon's other stooges. I overheard Glasses saying that he got out on parole yesterday afternoon."

"What!" Elisa yelled. "How? He had a ten year sentence. No parole was granted."

"Judge changed his mind when Glasses' family appealed the decision for the ten years given, after some new evidence was found."

"What? What evidence could prove he was innocent of attempted homicide?"

"Simmons woke up yesterday morning, around three am. He was questioned by Captain Chavez, and it turns out Glasses never pulled the trigger. It was one of the other guys that were there. Those guys that ran off weren't any of Dracon's men… no one knows who they were."

A silence fell upon the pair as Elisa took in what Matt has just said, "So, what happens now?"

Matt looked at her, "Well Glasses and the other guys were setting up some deal to have this guy, Emilio Martin pay for stuffing up the dealings Dracon had with one of the gangs."

"Wait, I've heard that name somewhere before. Four years ago, in Los Angeles, Emilio's twin sons, aged fourteen, were shot by two gangs. One gang shot Bryan, thinking that he was his twin Wayne. And the same with Wayne, only by the other gang. I don't remember what the gangs were called though."

"One gang is the Black Widows, and the other is the Tarantellas. The gangs are notorious from L.A. They came to Manhattan about two years ago, they've just kept pretty low, until this time last year. Even I've had a run in with them." Matt said, running his hand down the back of his neck, he felt the deep scarring from the attack when he'd gone onto the Tarantellas territory at the direction of a couple of the Black Widows, three months ago. "They're really dangerous, and Dracon, well he's not happy about his deal not going down."

"So what would any of this have to do with anything?"

"Both gang leaders youngest sons, both aged six, were taken from their families during the night a few days ago. Kidnapped; but no one knows who took them or to where. Each gang blames the other. With both boys being kidnapped on the same day… well, someone did it..."

"How do we find out who? Where would we even begin to search?"

"Elisa, there's never been two gangs that hate each other as much as these two do. I suspect that someone wants to start a war between them, and somehow Dracon and Emilio are both connected to it, I just know it." He paused for a few moments, "I know that you swore never to see that jerk again, but Elisa we need to go down there after lunch and find out what Dracon's has to do with it. It's the only place we've got to start…"

* * * *

****

Manhattan Boundary Jail  
12.18 PM

Matt let loose a punch and thumped Dracon in the face. "Answer my damn question!"

Elisa stepped up next to Matt and pulled him back. "Come on Matt, if he won't help us… we'll let Goliath in the case and let him come sort Tony out."

Dracon rubbed his throat remembering what Goliath did to him when he found out that it was Dracon who had shot Elisa and Matt. Goliath had sworn to Dracon that if Elisa or Matt died from their injuries he had caused, he wouldn't let him live. The anger and rage that was in the grip that Goliath had on his throat had been a sure indication that Goliath meant what he said. 

Elisa pushed Matt over to the wall and sat down on the table in front of Dracon, "Come on Tony, tell us now what the deal is with you and the Black Widows."

"Listen, sugar, you need to know something… I'm my own man now. I don't have anything to do with gangs. I'm inside, remember? I don't have the connections I once had… if you let me out… then maybe I can look up these, Black Widows. Even if only for a day, under your strict supervision of course and find the information that you need."

Matt slammed his fist into the table, "Tony, Elisa and I will never help you out, you can go get…"

Elisa put her hand over Matt's mouth. "Matt." She smiled, "Don't." Trying not to laugh, Elisa sat back down on the table.

Matt straightened up, he removed his coat and draped it over the spare seat in front of the table and sat down. "Come on Tony… we know you want to tell us…"

"After all, don't you think you owe us after what you did?" Elisa asked.

****

15 December 1998  
Empty Cargo Warehouse  
Manhattan Docks  
2:33 PM

__

Dracon ran towards the exit doors of the warehouse, past crate upon crate of weapons and ammunition. He stopped and leant up against a wood pillar. Matt had shot him in his leg to stop him from getting away, and the bleeding of his right leg was keeping him from reaching the exit doors that were a good thirty metres away. 

But Dracon had a back up plan to the event of his being shot, to knock his assailant unconscious and escape without being caught. At least that's how he had hoped his plan would work but at that moment Matt staggered up from behind and drew his gun. 

"No more moves Tony." Matt said with a sneer. Inside he was feeling good about having earlier shot the bastard that smacked him one good with a crowbar. Matt rubbed his sore head and saw blood on the tips of his fingers. He came over a little dizzy and staggered back before quickly regaining his position.

Dracon smirked and pulled his gun, "That's where you're wrong, Detective Bluestone. It appears, you're the one with no more moves." He cocked the gun and aimed at Matt's chest. "I don't take kindly to being shot in the leg, Detective_." He moved his finger to rest against the trigger and then let out a laugh. "You're going to die from my gun… and the sad part… Maza isn't here to save your ass like last time."_

"Wrong Tony!" Elisa yelled from the railing above. She jumped down and landed on top of Dracon knocking him to the ground. As Dracon's gun hit the ground it went off, shooting Matt in his shoulder. 

Dracon and Elisa were face to face, Dracon laughing and Elisa very pissed off. She started getting up but Dracon placed his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. "I always wondered what this would be like." He grinned before kissing her.

Elisa pulled away and slapped him across the face, but he pulled her back in again. She kneed him in his groin and he hurled over and clutched at his crutch. "You cow!" He screeched and punched her across the side of her face. 

Matt tried pulling himself up, a hard job to do when you can't use both your arms, especially when the left one has been shot out of use from the shoulder. His gun lay just in front of him; he extended his arm out to pick it up but staggered down and fell flat on his chest. His right hand pressed hard on the ground and he pushed himself up again. 

He picked up the gun and raised it up to target range. "You kiss my partner again you dog, I'll throw you to sharks and let them eat your slimy ass alive." 

Dracon smiled and reached to the back of his trousers and pulled out a spare gun, "So let them eat me." He said as he cocked the gun and fired. 

"No!" Elisa yelled and leapt in front of Matt and knocked him to the ground with a hard thud. The bullet from the gun hit Elisa in her chest; she felt as if it bit her as it entered. It jolted her back and she fell to the ground. She clutched onto Matt's arm as everything around her began spinning and fading grey. Noises became louder and echoing. "Matt." She breathed, "Please… don't let me die…" She closed her eyes and her body became limp. 

Tears streamed out of Matt's eyes.

Behind Matt, Dracon started laughing, "Poor stupid Detective… ha ha ha." Matt closed his eyes, and let all his anger and rage fill into his body as he spun around, aimed the gun and squeezed the trigger. The bullet knocked Dracon flat on his back, blood appeared in his stomach as he lay there, grabbing at the concrete, trying to grab hold on to something that wasn't there. 

Matt turned back to his partner; he took off his overcoat and placed it under her head. Checking her pulse he could tell that she was still alive, but her pulse was very weak. "Don't leave me partner, you can't leave me. We're a team, and our team can't be broken up." Matt then took off his shirt, bundled it up and put it on her chest, pressing down on it for pressure.

The end doors burst open and the sunlight that beamed in made the figures that appeared in the doorway seem dark and dangerous. Matt raised his gun and was about to fire a shot when Captain Chavez shouted out, "Bluestone, don't shoot." 

Matt dropped the gun and continued putting pressure on Elisa's chest the best he could with just his right hand. "Don't leave me partner." He whispered softly in her ear.

Captain Chavez walked up to Matt and saw the blood that covered Elisa's chest. "What the hell happened here?" She asked. Matt didn't answer; he just looked at his partner. Elisa had taken the bullet that was meant for him and now she lay hanging on for her life. 

Captain Chavez gave the orders to call an ambulance.

It took only a few minutes for the ambulance to arrive but by that time Elisa had lost a lot of blood, as had Dracon who was being assisted by one of the police officers. They loaded Elisa up onto one gurney and Dracon on another. They were both wheeled to separate ambulances. Matt followed behind, ignoring everything else that was going on around him, he just wanted to be with Elisa. 

"Detective, you can't come along in the same ambulance as her if you're bleeding." One of the ambulance officers said.

Matt sat down next to Elisa and took her hand in his own. "I'm staying with my partner."

Captain Chavez walked out of the warehouse and headed for the ambulance. "It's okay." She said to the ambulance officer. He shook his head but his co-ambulance officer said it was all right for Matt to go along. "Matt, as soon as you get there, call her family, I'll be down there after I go tell the Dracon's."

Matt nodded his head. The ambulance doors closed…

* * * *

Dracon stood up from his seat, "You think that I owe you for what I did? I don't think so. I did what I did to protect what was mine… you two butted your arses into my affairs and suffered the consequences for your actions. Nothing personal, it was, _business_." He grinned before sitting down and crossing his arms across his chest as if nothing they would say mattered to him.

"You…." Elisa cut herself off before she said something she'd soon regret. 

Dracon shifted in his seat, "Listen, _detectives_, you have no proof that they were referring to me, and that anything they were saying would have anything to do with me. I guess you've got the wrong guy."

Matt and Elisa exchanged looks, got up and walked over to the door. "Elisa, I know what I heard and who I saw… they were talking about him… I swear it."

"I know… the way he was acting that day, it was like he was doing the gun deal for more than the usual business, but something a lot bigger… something worse. I just can't think what it could be or how it all connects together with the kidnapping."

"I know the feeling partner." Matt replied. He turned back to Dracon, he had his feet up on the table and was picking at his fingernails. Matt walked up and pushed his feet down. "Keep your dirty feet off the furniture Tony. We don't want it damaged."

"If it gets damaged boy'o, buy more!" Dracon shouted. He put his feet back up on the table. Matt pushed them down again, walked around to the other side of the table, pulled Dracon out of his seat and shoved him up against the wall by his throat.

Matt became furious, it wasn't what Dracon was saying but how much of an arsehole he was being and how he didn't feel any guilt at shooting them. Matt felt guilt as high as the Empire State Building for his having shot Dracon. But then the bastard had shot his partner, and no other man would have gotten away with it. "Shut you're trap before someone shuts it for you! Else you're gonna get in a whole lot of shit." 

"Matt! Matt let him go!" Elisa shouted. Matt let go of Dracon and pushed him into the table. He walked around to Elisa and faced Dracon. Dracon sat back down on his seat, he started laughing and smiling as if nothing mattered. Nothing seemed to affect this guy. "Matt, if he won't help. We'll just hunt down Glasses and find out from him what's really going on."

Dracon laughed, "You won't get any information from him… he knows as much as your partner knows… I'm the only one who knows the full deal… everyone else… just the little piece they need to set up a much larger puzzle."

Matt lunged forward, his fist smashed into Dracon's face. "You said you didn't know, and now… now you say you do know. How many more lies are you going to tell us? How many more times are you going to feed us bullshit?"

Dracon punched Matt in the nose. "Get the hell off of me! Guard!" He yelled out at the top of his lungs. 

The guard opened the door and saw the blood trickling from Dracon's nose and forehead, "Ha ha, a little bit of brutality to find out what you needed to know, huh Detectives?" The guard chuckled.

"No, he just wouldn't co-operate. Take him out of here and clean him up." Elisa said. The guard nodded his head, laughing at Dracon as he took him away. Elisa looked at Matt. "Your nose." She said. Matt put his hand up against his nose; a little bit of blood was trickling out. "Here…" She said and took a handkerchief out of her back pocket and held it on Matt's nose for him. "Hold it up here for a second like… this."

"Ow!" Matt called in pain. "That hurt." 

He sounded a little like Steve Urkle just then, but Elisa didn't want to comment on it. She apologised. "Just hold it up here while I go get a wet cloth for you. It'll help a bit more." Matt nodded his head and Elisa went out to get a cloth. 

When she came back, she looked in the doorway; Matt was sitting on the table. He was tilting his head upward. "Here you are." She said and handed him the cloth. She watched as he removed the bloody handkerchief from his nose and replaced it with the clean cloth she had gotten. She sat down next to him on the table, "Matt, I'm sorry I didn't stop you from hitting him and getting hit yourself… I just wanted him to pay for what he did… y'know?"

Matt lowered the cloth from his nose; it had stopped bleeding now. He took Elisa's hand in his own, the way he had the day she was shot. "I know Elisa. I want him to pay too. Captain Chavez says his punishment is just by his serving time in here… but it's not enough. He'll be out in six months. Thanks to his lawyers. But that's why we're trying to find out what this crap with the Black Widows is about. It might be something that will keep him locked away for the eight years he should have got."

Elisa sighed, "We can hope." Matt smiled and stood up. Elisa turned him around and took the cloth from his hand. It had only a little blood on it so she found a clean spot and wiped around his nose and mouth to clear away the dry blood.

"Thanks Elisa."

"You're welcome." Elisa replied.

"Y'know, if I had a chance to have that moron back in here, I'd give him a piece of my mind. The next time I see him I'm going to thump the shit out of him." He sat down on the table next to Elisa again and apologised to her.

Elisa was about to say it was all right, and he didn't need to apologise, but they heard a dark, deep voice, "Do that, and my client will sue." Elisa and Matt looked around, it was Officer Morgan, and he was joking around. "Sorry Detectives…" He chuckled, "Captain Chavez got word that you two were down here, and asked me to come get you. There's some new Detective down at the station, who knows something about the kidnapping case."

* * * *

****

23rd Precinct  
2:47 PM

Elisa and Matt walked up the steps of the Police Station. The desk sergeant grinned as they came through the front doors, "Heard the news gang. Some new guy's movin' in on your case… and the Captain's really angry with you both."

"Shut up." Matt snapped. Elisa ignored the desk sergeant and pulled Matt along before he pounded him. 

****

Upstairs a few minutes later 

Elisa and Matt walked up to Captain Chavez's office, the door was closed. Matt knocked rhythmically before he and Elisa sat on the chairs outside the door. 

After waiting a few seconds, Captain Chavez called them in. "Where the hell have you two been?" Captain Chavez started. "I had to send Morgan after the two of you because you took off. You're meant to report to me so I know where you are at all times."

Matt snarled at the Captain, "Who the hell do you think you are? Our mother?"

"Don't talk to me that way Detective!" Captain Chavez warned him. "Maza, why weren't you where you said you'd be?"

"Matt and I found out some new information on our case and so we went to question Dracon about it. Sorry we didn't tell you where we were."

"It's okay, I just need to know for the D.A. It's the third D.A we've had in since the last one disappeared, and I have to justify every move you two make…. Oh, this is Detective…." Captain Chavez begun, she pointed over to Jarod who was standing beside her. 

The man smiled at Elisa and Matt. "Starr, Jarod Starr…" The man continued. He was good looking, around his thirties, and had a child like smile that made him look as innocent as a new born baby. "Haven't we met before?" Jarod asked of Elisa.

"Sorry, I'd have remembered." Elisa replied. How would he know her from somewhere? Surely, she'd have remembered meeting this, Detective Starr.

"Hmm…" Jarod apologised and then turned back around to Captain Chavez. "Would it be alright if I explained to them why I'm here?" He asked politely.

Captain Chavez nodded, "Go right ahead Detective." 

Jarod stood up from his seat and walked to the back of the room where he opened up his briefcase. He pulled out two large yellow envelopes and handed one to Elisa and the other to Matt. "I'm trying to find these two boys. They're the children of the gang leaders…"

Elisa looked up at Jarod, "…of the Black Widow and Tarantella's gangs?" She asked, opening her envelope. Inside is a picture of a young boy, with dark brown eyes and black hair. On the bottom of the image, the name Luc Picardo is imprinted in white ink on the bottom right corner.

Jarod nodded his head, "Yes, their youngest son's have been missing for just over five days now."

Matt stepped forward and shook his head, "Rumour on the street has it that they were killed in retaliation from each gang." He turned to Elisa; the look on her face told him that she thought the same thing. "So if they were just kidnapped, where are they now?"

"Well, that's why I'm here. Captain Chavez and I have been talking for the last three days over the situation while I came down here, and the only thing concrete I've come up with in those three days has been this… I showed it to the Captain earlier this afternoon. That's why you were called down here… something about it being right up your alley."

Elisa and Matt exchanged looks, "What gives you that idea Captain?" Matt asked. Jarod picked up a yellow envelope off the Captain's desk and handed it to Matt. Upon opening it he gasped, "Shit!" He handed the content, two photos, to Elisa.

"Oh shit!" Elisa equally gasped. "What the hell…. Captain, this, this can't be happening…" The first photo was of Dominique 'Demona' Destine talking to a woman, both were yelling at each other by the looks on their faces. And the second, the one that shocked Elisa and Matt the most, was of 'Demona' talking to Glasses and the men Matt had seen earlier. 

"Elisa…" Captain Chavez started. She walked up to the three Detectives, took the photos from Elisa's hand, looked at them and then passed them back to Jarod. "We need to hear what you two know…"

Elisa sat down on the edge of the desk and both herself and Matt filled Captain Chavez and Jarod in on everything that they knew about the whole situation.

****

Half an hour later

Captain Chavez sat down at her desk and let out a sigh; she rubbed her face and looked directly at Jarod. "Detective, you said that you've seen this creature before, correct?" Jarod nodded his head. 

Both Elisa and Matt shot their heads to Jarod's direction. Had they heard correctly? He'd seen Demona before now? "How can you have seen her before? That's impossible!" Matt snapped. 

Jarod let out a deep sigh; this wasn't going to be easy. He hadn't told anyone about any of his experiences or simulations at the Centre. Except Samantha Walker, but she'd looked at his DSA's, that was a little different. Now it was time to explain one for the sake of saving two six-year-old boys. "Okay, but what I'm about to tell you, I've never told anyone before…" Jarod started. Elisa, Matt and Captain Chavez listened carefully as Jarod begun to explain. "When I was a young boy I was taken from my family, I was made to do simulations. Painful simulations. One of them, when I was seventeen was to find out about this creature. Only, the images I was made to view of her, she was crying..."

__

Jarod slowly turned around to face Sydney, his eyes were filled with tears, "She cries because she betrayed those she loved for something she was unable to share with those she loved. Now, she's all alone in the world."

Sydney smiled, at least he was getting something from Jarod, even though it wasn't very important, "Who is she, and what does she want Jarod?"

"She is, alone, and wants to have those she loved back."

Sydney looked up at the picture on the wall, it was a female gargoyle, she was a funny blue colour and had a gold headband on her forehead. "She does look sad, but we need to know who she is and what she wants here."

"All I know, is that she isn't from here, she's from another place, a place where she lost someone she loved very much. I don't know who she is, but she wants to make all humanity pay for… for killing her clan…"

"Tell me Jarod, why did you have to find out about her?" Captain Chavez asked. She turned to Elisa and Matt who looked bewildered.

Jarod shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure, but I have a friend who _may_ be able to explain it to me. I'lltry find out anything that I can." He told them.

"Good. Okay, our next step is to find out why she was meeting with Glasses and the other guys. Detectives, how does it sound to go pay Tony Dracon another visit, an official one this time?" Matt clenched his fist and looked away, swearing under his breath, "I'll get Officer Morgan to go down and question him instead…" Brrr Brrr Brrr Brrr 

Captain Chavez stopped suddenly, picked up the telephone, and answered it. "Chavez here."

__

"Maria, darling, it's Richard. I've been trying to get a hold of you for the last few hours, have I done something wrong?" The voice on the other end of the line said. 

Captain Chavez moved uncomfortably in her seat and turned away from the three Detectives. "No, of course not. Listen, can I ring you back? I'm in a meeting at the moment."

__

'Don't you love me?' The voice asked.

"Of course I do, but this meeting is for a very important case, I have your number here, I'll ring you back when I'm done. Okay?" Instead of an answer on the other end of the line, the receiver was hung up and all that could be heard was the dial tone. Captain Chavez placed the phone down and turned back around. Elisa and Matt were grinning at her, widely. "Right, where was I then… oh yes." Suddenly the telephone rang again. "Chavez here." 

"_I've got information about the two kidnapped boys you're after… get the officers working on the case to meet me at Nan's Coffee Shop, within the next twenty minutes..." _The woman on the other end of the line said before hanging up.

Captain Chavez placed the handset down, "Detectives… Nan's Coffee Shop within the next twenty minutes..." It was the break they had been looking for, and Elisa and Matt knew what the Captain was talking about, they didn't even have to hear her finish saying what she was about to say. They turned around and went out the door, Jarod turned to the Captain, leaving his folders where they were, and taking off after the two Detectives.

****

* * * * 

Down stairs a few minutes later

Elisa, Matt and Jarod got into the Fairlane. As Elisa started the ignition the radio started playing, she'd forgotten to turn it off earlier. She was about to switch it off when Matt pulled her hand away. He turned the volume up while Ricky Martin's song, 'I Count The Minutes' played.

__

Each night's a lifetime when I'm not with you  
And every day just seems to take forever  
I'm missing when I should be kissing you  
I can't wait  
'Cause I live for the love that we make  
I can't breathe till I feel you beside me  
And I'm lost in the dark  
Till you're here in my arms, oh

The music seemed to fade away as Elisa looked out her window. So many thoughts rushed through her mind. '_I'm missing when I should be kissing you…' _Elisa murmured. She closed her eyes and remembered the last time she spent with Jackson, her first boyfriend. That Christmas Day should have been the happiest day of their lives, but it was so ended in an instant…

****

25 December 1988  
Maza Residence  
5:48 PM

__

"Elisa honey, Jackson's here." Diane called out to her daughter from the living room.

Up the hall, Elisa's younger sister Beth ran across from the bathroom doorway into her and Elisa's bedroom. "Elisa, Jackson's here." She teased.

Elisa bit her lip as Beth buttoned up the back of her dress. "Shut up Beth." She growled. Although Elisa didn't like being teased, especially when she was trying to get ready, she did admire her younger sister's sense of humour. Especially when it was cute humour. 

Beth buttoned the last button and turned Elisa around to face the full body mirror in front of them. Elisa was wearing a flourishing cream dress while Beth wore a sparkling blue summer type dress. "You look really beautiful sis." Beth commented on how Elisa's dress sat elegantly on her hourglass frame. 

"Not as beautiful as you Beth, that dress really suits you." Elisa commented her sister with a smile. Beth and Elisa hugged, "I hope you and Larry have a great time tonight Beth, where are you going?"

Beth shrugged her shoulders with a big grin, "His house, but don't tell mum and dad, you know they'd kill me if they knew I was lying to them."

Elisa gave her sister a smile, "Your secret's safe with me."

"What about you and Jackson, where are you two going tonight?" Beth asked wryly, Elisa gave a smile of anticipation and excitement, "Mmm, so is it 'Lover's View' or someplace else."

"It's 'Lover's View', we've been up there, three times now. But we want to see the Christmas Lights around the city, it's going to be so Romantic." Elisa exhaled. 

Behind them, their father Peter cleared his throat, "What's going to be so Romantic?" He asked. Elisa and Beth turned around suddenly and looked directly at their father.

Beth shoved Elisa forward, Elisa was always stronger at standing up to their father but when it came to the girls' boyfriends, Elisa was weaker than Beth. "Nothing." Elisa told her father matter-of-factly. 

Peter nodded his head, "Just, be careful, both of you. You're your mother and my only girls, we don't want anything to happen to either of you." 

Beth walked up ahead of Elisa and stood in front of her father, "You never _lecture _Derek. _It's not fair. We're old enough to take care of ourselves. Elisa's the oldest. You never let her do anything, or me. We're going to the same place dad, nothing's going to go wrong."_

Elisa let out a sigh of relief when their father gave them a smile and nodded his head, "I know you're both old enough, but there are a lot of boys out there who aren't as mature as the two of you are. I just want the two of you to be careful _okay?"_

Beth giggled, "If you're meaning protection Dad, well d'uh we're not that stupid, we'll use it."

"Protection... I ah... ahem, I think your mother called me." Peter excused himself from his daughters and left the room. Beth fell into a fit of the giggles. 

"Beth, you're mean." Elisa said. She pulled her sister by her arm over to the duchess between their two beds and pointed to the various bottles of perfume that the two shared. "What do you think, Musk or something else?"

"Quick change of subject... okay, the Musk, you smell nicer in that than anyone else could ever smell wearing it."

Elisa shook her head at her sister, "Doubt it." She said with a smile. "But I will go for the Musk... but only because I like it better than the rest." Elisa picked up the bottle and sprayed some on the base of her neck and chest. 

"What's in this blue one?" Beth asked raising a bottle of perfume with a blue lid.

Elisa shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure, I picked it up at a garage sale with Mom a few months back."

"Oh, can I use it? It smells like roses."

"Sure... wait, what about Larry?" 

Beth looked at Elisa with questioning eyes, "What about Larry? He likes me to smell nice."

"Yeah, any guy would, but if you remember, Larry's allergic to Roses."

Beth smiled like a little girl and put the bottle back on the duchess, "Right, I forgot. Can I borrow some Musk then?"

Elisa chuckled, "Sure you can cutie."

Beth hit Elisa in her arm, "Don't call me cutie... I only like Larry calling me that, he's says it in the most sexy way. And when you_ go and say it, it kinda makes it sound gross." She then sprayed some Musk on her neck and chest as Elisa had done earlier._

"Sure, whatever." Elisa smiled. Both girls let out a sigh before picking up their jackets and walking out of the room. When they entered the living room there were cheers all around. From the girls' parents, their brother Derek, Elisa's boyfriend Jackson and Beth's boyfriend Larry.

Elisa and Beth both curtsied and gave them a smile. "My girls." Diane cried tearfully. "You both look very beautiful."

Elisa blushed while Beth spun around and showed how the dress glided elegantly as she moved. "Thank you." Elisa and Beth replied.

Their father walked up to his girls and gave each of them a kiss. First Elisa and then Beth. "I'll go get the camera to take some pictures before you go off."

"We'll go off? I don't want to stink dad, I want to smell like a bed of roses." Beth joked.

"I hope not." Larry replied. "Darling, you know how I'm allergic." He added as he walked up to Beth. Beth smiled to reassure him she was only joking and knew about his allergy. They put their arms around each other's bodies and then kissed tenderly.

Larry was five foot seven, his skin was quite dark, the black sheep of his family, as he liked to call himself. What Elisa admired most about her sister's boyfriend was that he always kept himself tidy, never used bad language, at least not around adults and female's. But one part she didn't like was that he quite often put Beth down, never to her face, but he always told Jackson, who in turn told Elisa. And that upset her because Elisa believed Beth needed someone who would love her all the time, not just when he wanted to. 

Although Elisa knew what Larry would say about Beth to Jackson, Elisa didn't have the guts to tell her sister. She just believed that her sister didn't need the heartache, so Elisa never told her. 

Elisa shrugged off the thoughts in her mind, there wasn't any point getting stressed out over her sister's relationship, well not today that was. 

Elisa turned around and seen Jackson looking directly at her, "Hey handsome." She said to him. 

Elisa studied Jackson, he was just on six foot tall, and his skin tone was the same as her own. Elisa begun to melt in his hazel eyes as he started studying her back. 

"Hey gorgeous, thought you'd forgotten about me..." Jackson said as he walked up to Elisa and took her hands in his own, kissing each one gently. 

Elisa stepped up closer to Jackson and smiled, "Really?" She asked before they moved even closer. Their bodies touched, Jackson's hands slipped around Elisa's waist while Elisa placed her arms around his neck. Their lips touched and they started kissing.

As they parted, Jackson stroked his hand through Elisa's hair, "I love you." He told her softly.

"I love you too." Elisa replied she pulled Jackson closer and kissed him again. 

Diane smiled at Peter as he walked back into the room, carrying the camera he'd gone to get moments after telling them he'd go get it before they went off. "Look." Diane said, nodding her head toward Elisa and Jackson. "Our baby's found love Peter, real love."

"Hmm..." Was Peter's only reply, "Ahem, girls, boys... time for pictures." He said. Peter and Diane then stood over by the sofa, just in front of the wall where Derek stood, his arms crossed across his chest.

Jackson and Elisa slowly parted at their lips; they'd been kissing for a little while when her father came back in, "Okay Daddy." Elisa replied, her eyes still on Jackson. 

Beth and Larry smiled at each other before walking over to the wall where Derek was. "What's wrong?" Beth asked.

Derek shook his head, "Nothing, just wanting to get this over and done with, Monica's waiting outside in her car."

"You should invite her in."

Derek smiled smugly, "Yeah, in what she wears, I don't think so." 

Beth screwed up her face, "Disgusting." She said before gripping Larry's arm tightly, "Think I'll wear anything like Monica does, you're out of your mind." She told him sternly.

Larry smiled at Beth and kissed her hand gently, "I'd never ever make you wear anything to degrade yourself like that. You're perfectly fine the way you are." Beth smiled back at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him full on. "Woah." Larry exclaimed when they finished. 

"Definitely, woah." Beth replied. She couldn't believe what she'd done, and it felt great. Sure they'd kissed, but that kiss, it was so full on! And it was so love filled that it knocked her thoughts around so much she kissed him the same way again. "That was great."

Larry smiled, "You're telling me." He said as he held her tightly in his arms. 

Elisa and Jackson walked up to the wall and stood on the other side of Derek. They were holding each other close.

Jackson looked down at Elisa, thoughts were racing through his mind, he didn't know what was going on, but he did know that he meant with all his heart what he was about to say to her. "Elisa do you remember the first time we made love?" He asked her gently.

Elisa's heart started racing, "Yeah, I do..." She wanted to say more, but the words failed to so much as even come into her mind.

Jackson took Elisa's hand in his and placed it against his chest, "Can you feel my heart beating?" Elisa nodded her head, "And how it's beating so fast?" Again, Elisa nodded. Jackson smiled at her, "It's beating so fast because... because I... I want to ask you… if… Elisa will... will you marry me?"

Elisa blinked, "Yes. I will." She answered. Both Elisa and Jackson smiled and hugged each other tightly. "I don't know what else to say." She said. 

Jackson looked at Elisa; she had tears in her eyes, just like he did. "You've said all that I've wanted to hear for the last seven months."

The smile on Elisa's face grew bigger, "You've been thinking about marriage since we first made love too."

"You've been thinking about it too?" Elisa nodded her head. "Why didn't you tell me?" Jackson asked as he brushed his fingers through her hair. 

The tears in Elisa's eyes streamed down her cheeks while she spoke, "Because I didn't want to lose you, Jackson. I thought that it would scare you away... why didn't you tell me either?"

"The same as you, I thought you'd hate me and think that I was stupid. But Elisa, when we kissed before, I felt something inside my heart telling me that you'd say yes if I asked. I was going to wait until later... but I had to ask you now."

"And I'm so glad that you did." Elisa cried. She leant into Jackson's chest and closed her eyes tightly. 

Diane and Peter put their arms around each other's waist's, "Our baby." Diane cried. "She's getting married..." Diane then looked up at her husband, he was smiling the same way as he had done the day when she herself agreed to marry him. 

"She followed her heart... as we taught her." Peter said, "As we taught her." He added.

As Peter raised the camera up to take a photo of the happy event Derek nodded his head at Jackson, giving him his approval to marry his older sister. "Cool." He said. 

Beth and Larry looked at the newly engaged couple, "That's so great." Beth said. 

Elisa and Jackson looked at each other as the camera went off. One shot, two shots, three, four, five, six... eight photo's of the five chil... young adults. "Congratulations sis." Beth smiled. Elisa smiled back at her kid sister with tears of joy streaming out of her eyes.

Jackson smiled down at Elisa, "Maybe we should get going now... we don't want to be late." He said with his voice like a soft whisper upon her ears. They leant in and kissed again. "But we'll have to drop Beth and Larry off first."

Peter looked from Beth to Jackson and back to Beth again, Beth could feel her father's eyes upon her. "Dad..." She started, but Peter smiled at her. "Phew." She breathed. 

On the way out, Elisa gave her mother and father a big hug. "Congratulations my little girl." Diane said tearfully. "And Jackson, you've made my baby very happy. Now the two of you have a good time tonight."

"We will Mom." Elisa told her mother. "And thank you." Mother and daughter hugged again. 

"Take care now." Peter said, "I look forward to having you as part of our family." He told Jackson who wore a big smile. 

"Thank you sir." Jackson replied. Elisa stepped back to stand next to him; Jackson took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. "We better get going. Mr Maza, Mrs Maza." Elisa and Jackson walked out the front door, climbed into the front seats of the car, and waited as Beth and Larry got in the back seats.

Jackson turned the ignition and the car hummed to life, the four young adults waved goodbye to Peter and Diane and then Jackson started to back the car out. 

As the car drove off down the road Peter and Diane turned to go back inside, but when they heard tyres screeching from out on the main road they both ran down the street. 

The car with the four youngsters had been smashed into a power pole by a four-wheel drive. Screams and cries of pain could be heard from within the car...

A single tear developed in Elisa's eye. She remembered that day like it was yesterday, but more the part when she awoke in the hospital, three days later, to be told that Jackson and the driver of the other vehicle hadn't made it back to the hospital when they had been pronounced dead.

The song finished and Matt leant forward and turned the radio off. He looked at Elisa, "You okay?" He asked.

Elisa nodded, "Yeah, the song, it made me think of… an old friend." She gave Matt a smile, shifted the gear stick into first and started moving the car along the road. She could feel Jarod and Matt's eyes on her, watching her like volchers watch their prey. _Why don't they just leave me alone._ She cried inside as the car travelled along the road.

* * * *

****

Nan's Coffee Shop  
3:03 PM

Elisa, Matt and Jarod climbed out of the Ford Fairlane and closed the doors behind them. 

A deep sigh came from Elisa as they walked up to the building; Matt turned to her, "Can I hold you back for a sec?" He asked.

Jarod looked sideways at them, "I'll meet you both inside." He said taking what Matt asked Elisa as a hint that they'd need some time alone for a second. He walked in through the front doors of the Coffee House and ordered a drink and some donuts before taking a seat at a window side table, carefully being able to see what was going on outside.

Back outside Elisa looked at Matt, her heart hurt just doing that. She couldn't understand why. No warning signs, no nothing, she just suddenly had a hatred towards him. But not like that of which she held toward Dracon. This was different, it was closer to her heart, with much more pain. "Why'd you hold me back for?" She asked impatiently. 

Matt walked Elisa to the side of the footpath, "I might not be the one you want to talk with about your personal life… but I'm just worried as to what's bothering you today."

Elisa glared at Matt, "There's nothing bothering me. And if there was, I certainly wouldn't be telling you, because you're right, you're not the one I want to share anything about my personal life with." She shouted. Her eyebrows frowned as she glared at him, "What gives you the right to think I'll ever tell you!" She snapped back as she turned to walk away.

Matt grabbed Elisa by her shoulders and turned her around, "I was worried about you, that was all!" He snarled before letting go of her.

Elisa slapped him across the face before stepping back and putting her hand across her mouth. "I'm sorry Matt. I didn't mean to slap you." She went to touch the side of his face, but he moved her hand away. 

"Just, don't..." He said and moved Elisa's hand away before he walked away, heading toward the Coffee Shop. He was feeling hurt, for what he'd done, and what Elisa had done back. It seemed as though there was no reason for why she slapped him, yet he knew in his heart that there had to be a reason. More of a reason than because he turned her around, couldn't she see that he was only caring? She cared for him earlier on down at the jail, what was so wrong that he couldn't care back? _She wasn't thinking of an old friend in the car, she was thinking of Goliath._

Elisa looked in the opposite direction of the Coffee House. She didn't understand why she had just slapped Matt. She had never thought about slapping anyone, except Demona, but Matt? Suddenly she felt a strange feeling surge through her chest and stomach. It was like guilt, but worse, the same way she felt when she had yelled at Jackson one time. A smile appeared on Elisa's face as she remembered why she had yelled at Jackson, it was because she loved him and didn't want him to go boozing with his mates as often as he was. 

Wait a minute! If that was the way she felt about Jackson. Then were they too the same feeling's she held for Matt? They couldn't be, she had Goliath, and she loved him. Not Matt. She wondered about it, yeah, she loved Goliath, but her feelings for him were nothing like they were for Jackson… or for that matter, the feelings she had for Matt. _Oh no! I'm not, I can't be. It's just impossible. _"I can't be in love with Matt!"

How could she be in love with Matt? Sure they were partners, friends even. But how could she be in love with him, they weren't any closer than they used to be.... no, wait. They were, ever since the shooting they'd grown a bond to which Captain Chavez had often said, _'I've never seen a greater team than you two. You've got something special there that keeps you working well together.' _"We did grow closer, all those days we spent together while we were at hospital, and when I was sent home. He stayed with me all day, everyday for five weeks, before I was fit enough to take care of myself properly without any help." Now wasn't the time for these kind of emotions, she had to push them aside, their case depended on a clear head, not one confused with feelings. "At least until the case is over."

****

A few minutes later

Elisa had just came inside, constantly hoping that being around Matt, and Jarod, would at least help her keep _those _thoughts at bay. But it was just that, a hope. They didn't stay away, in fact being around Matt made them come into her mind more. She loved him, completely and undeniably. But what more she didn't understand is exactly how long had she been feeling this way about him? 

She couldn't think about it, she couldn't betray Goliath's trust and his love. They were mates, lovers. 

No, they weren't. 

She couldn't fool herself with believing that they were. They hadn't seen each other in months, in fact they hadn't so much as even looked at each other from a long distance apart. Had they grown apart? If so, how? For what reason? _I… I have to talk it over with Goliath… I'll suggest that we need to discuss some important parts of our relationship. _She leant back on her seat, so many thoughts and hopes. Wishes and desires. Wouldn't they ever end?

The three Detectives had been sitting down at the table for only a very short while when they were approached by a woman that was around her mid twenties with long brown hair and green eyes. What struck them as unusual was that her face was covered with a scarf, probably to keep from being noticed. "You are the Detectives in charge of the kidnapping case?" She asked with a near whisper. As the trio nodded she placed a brown envelope on the table and quickly left the establishment. 

Elisa leant forward and slowly picked up the envelope. As she opened it, a red diary fell onto the table. 

Matt reached out for the diary at the same time as Elisa, their hands touched, Elisa withdrew her hand quickly and told Matt he could look at it first. After picking up the diary, Matt begun to quickly skim through the text filled pages. "That son of a… sold us out!" He exclaimed after a few minutes. He placed his finger on a paragraph and showed it to Elisa, an equal response came from her. "The D.A was ordered by Demona to send us down there so that we'd be caught in the middle."

Jarod looked at the expressions of disbelief and anger on Elisa and Matt's faces. He took the diary from Elisa and quickly read through the page they were on. "This Demona, she goes by another alias? Dominique Destine?" He asked them quizzically. He ran his finger down the page and stopped short at a paragraph before looking up at them in waiting for their answer.

Elisa and Matt looked at each other before turning back to Jarod, "Yeah. This is going to be… really weird. But, you know… well… she's human by day and gargoyle by night. That's how come she goes under two alias's." Elisa answered uneasily. _He probably doesn't believe a word I just said._

Jarod cleared his throat, "Well then, this Dracon and, _Demona_. They were seeing each other. There's a little more to it though, it appears that they had a huge argument after Demona lied to him. He was so enraged he began smashing things." Matt questioned Jarod with his eyes, Jarod handed Matt the diary back and turned to Elisa. "This guy was more than mad, he was sad. Mix the two together, it gets pretty... nasty."

Elisa raised an eyebrow, "Well I'm curious as to what the lie was that made him that way." She said after a moment. 

Matt shook his head, "Are you sure?" Elisa nodded her head. "It says here…"

__

'This afternoon when Ms Destine and Mr Dracon came back from a day out, Ms Destine told Mr Dracon that she lost their unborn baby a few days ago. Everything was fine, Mr Dracon said that they could try again. But Ms Destine started to elaborate on the so-called loss of their baby by telling him that it was a woman called, Elisa Maza, who had made his deal with the Black Widows stuff up, and so, she told him that it was her fault Ms Destine lost their baby. I knew it was all a lie the moment I heard that woman's name. Ms Destine hated Miss Maza as much as she hated her ex-flame, a mysterious gentleman named Goliath. Somehow, I came to thinking more of that name, Elisa Maza, yes, that was it, I had seen her name in the papers. She was a New York Police Officer, and she had been attacked many times by Ms Destine. Well, that depending on if Ms Destine was telling the truth about those so called attacks she had committed on the Cop…'

"There's another entry, it's dated the day of the shooting." Matt said.

__

'Earlier this morning I heard Ms Destine talking with the temporary District Attorney that was in town for several months. She was letting him know about the fake deal that was going on down at the docks, and about how she knew there was an undercover cop involved, and how she really wanted Detective Maza, and Detective Bluestone sent down there, with no chance of getting backup. It was very strange though, the D.A wasn't who he seemed, in fact he was a completely different person underneath the latex mask he was wearing. He knew Detective Maza, I'm not sure as to where he knew her from, maybe she had arrested him once before, but whatever it was that she did to him, he didn't like her, and he too thought she should be made to pay. 'I'll do it.' I heard him say before Ms Destine handed him a envelope of fifteen thousand dollars payment in advance for what he was about to do. Soon after he left Mr Dracon came in, and asked if the deal was set up, she said it was.

'I wasn't sure exactly what the deal was that was going down, but whatever it was, I had to know. But no matter how hard I looked for information or leads about it that day, I didn't know anymore about it than before. And then, just as I had given up hope of finding out what was going on I heard the tragic news, about the dock shooting earlier this afternoon. I was furious that I didn't report what I'd heard Ms Destine say, but I didn't know anything more about it than what I'd heard, so what could I have done? Nothing. I only hope this is the end of all the madness.'

"Elisa, Demona didn't set _us_ up, but rather… _you_." Matt said, setting his eyes on her.

"You're kidding?" Elisa asked painfully. She knew Demona hated her, but as much as to actually have her killed? Of course Demona did! She'd tried many times before to get Elisa out of the picture. But this time it was different, it was over Dracon. Elisa didn't understand why Demona would be jealous of Elisa over him for, she hated the moron as much as Demona hated humans.

Matt rubbed his chin, "I don't think Dracon was really angry at you, Elisa, but rather Demona made him think that he was. It's probably stupid I know, but it all sounds as if that's how it went." He continued.

Elisa rubbed her head, "Okay, say that's right. But how has it got to do with the two boys? There's nothing telling us why she kidnapped them, or where she took them."

Matt flipped through the full pages of the diary and came to a page near the end, "Actually, there is. Well, sort of. There's only one entry that's been dated in the diary for the last few months, the rest, back when all the shit was going on about our shooting and Dracon's case, and a few other bits and pieces we can go over some other time. But the part that's dated recently, is the day _after _the two boys were taken from their homes…"

__

'Ms Destine spoke to Mr Dracon on the telephone last night, she seemed very happy when talking with him. Happier than she has been in quite a while. I don't care for them at all anymore, I'm not sure that I really did. I guess I was just apart of it because I'm not strong enough to stand up to Ms Destine. 

'More on with what's going on though. I heard Ms Destine tell Mr Dracon that the plan had gone through without a hitch. What plan though? I didn't know, but then it was all revealed. Ms Destine was saying how much trouble the children had been when they got them to the holding place. And how she was certain someone was taking pictures, but then that could have been nervousness, as she explained. They delved more into the plan and about how they wish they knew who the person was who sent them the note, suggesting the kidnapping. Sure, Ms Destine and Mr Dracon liked the idea, but they put it all in that sweet gentleman Glasses hands. All Mr Dracon planned to do was wait. But Ms Destine wanted to be a part of the action, so she helped out too, along with a third party, who has remained anonymous at all times.

"And that's it. No more entries or anything." Matt said, closing the diary and handing it over to Jarod. "This just got worse…"

"You can say that again." Elisa replied.

Jarod looked from Matt and then to Elisa, they knew this creature like the thoughts in their heads. "Something tells me that you're right in this one Detectives, but how come you know so much about her, what she'd think. Even from my simulation as a child, I didn't know what you know. It's as if you've spoken with her, had revenge played against you yourselves to know that she'd take revenge, or what type."

Matt nodded toward Elisa. "Elisa's had a number of torments from Demona in the past. She's been the backbone behind many of our cases, both her _and_ Dracon."

Elisa shook her head solemnly. Too many torments, too many cases. Demona had too much to do with everything in Elisa's life. Knowing Elisa's dumb luck, Demona probably even had something to do with the accident that claimed Jackson's life. No, that was just a pure and complete accident. The scar sport on her lower back from that day was a constant reminder of the screaming, the pain, the agony… the loss she always felt. Often the memories would play in her mind like a silent movie screening in an old cinema.

She let out a sigh and smiled in such a way to acknowledge that what Matt had told Jarod was true.

"Well I think our next step will be to find out where she's holding these boys." Matt said after a few moments of passing silence. 

Jarod looked at Matt, "What makes you think they're still alive?"

Matt looked dead straight into Jarod's eyes, "She wouldn't have killed them, she just wants to make the gangs pay, killing them would only make her feel lonely and unable to cause pain for them. Keeping them alive would allow her to do that. She's crazy, not stupid." He said.

"Although sometimes you wouldn't notice any difference." Elisa added under her breath.

"What?" Matt asked with a smile, he'd just been able to hear Elisa's comment. She shook her head with a _'I'm just joking'_ smile. "We need to take this back to Captain Chavez, have her read over it, then we'll see where we need to go from there." He said, tapping the diary in the palm of his hand.

Jarod nodded his head and agreed. He looked to Elisa, even though she nodded she seemed preoccupied. It was strange, one minute she was commenting on something, the next, back into her… comatose kind of world. She seemed alone, worried, confused… scared. "Okay." Matt said, "I guess we should, finish up here. See the Captain… and wait to see what we'll need to do next." He felt like an idiot, repeating pretty much exactly, what he'd already finished saying. _Stupid Bluestone, stupid!_

* * * *

****

23rd Precinct  
4:21 PM

Elisa, Matt and Jarod were sitting down outside Captain Chavez's office. They'd been sitting here for a short while now, Matt had gone away and brought back some good ol' Precinct brewed coffee. 

"All we have to do now is find the two boys. And then the case will be over." Jarod said, breaking the silence.

"If only it were that easy, right Elisa?" Matt said.

Elisa just sipped the last mouthful of her drink and tossed the paper cup into the rubbish can. "Yeah." She sighed. 

Matt turned and caught her looking at him before she turned away. He wondered if she was okay, but didn't want to ask. She'd snapped her head off at him once today, that was enough for him. And that slap, Matt ran his face down the tender skin that was on his left cheek. Getting into her bad books wasn't something he was planning on doing again in their time working together. _Not today, not ever. _They were partners in real life, but in Matt's heart they were more than that. He just wished the way they were in his heart would come out and be that way in their real lives instead. But it was like a dream, not real and would never come true. _Unless I tell her how I feel, but I can't. I don't want to risk losing our friendship over it. I love her, but having her friendship is what I want more than to ever lose that friendship._

Elisa took one more look at Matt, she wished she hadn't now. He was looking right back at her. Her heart started racing, _Man, why did he have to be looking for? _She stood up from her seat and cleared her throat, "I've… I'll be back in a few minutes." She said excusing herself before heading off down the hall.

Jarod cleared his throat and Matt turned to look at him. Jarod gave him a smile, with an added touch of a grin, "Why don't you let her know?"

Matt instantly knew that Jarod was talking about his feelings for Elisa. Why didn't he let her know? That question had already been answered today. "Her… boyfriend." He answered painfully.

Jarod looked straight ahead then back to Matt, "You should still tell her. Don't hide the way you're feeling." He said.

"What? " He moved around on his seat and cleared his throat. "Tell her how I feel? I just told you that I…" Matt paused while a few of his fellow officers walked by. "That I can't tell her because she has a boyfriend."

Jarod looked down the hall and seen Elisa slowly walking back their way with a coffee in her hand. "You should tell her. The two of you have so much in common. You share so many memories of times spent together. Trust me, love like this is hard to find. I know it will be hard, but she needs to know. Even if only to see if she feels the same way." He said.

Matt looked down the hall, Elisa turned her head away, she was trying to avoid looking at him. He wondered how Jarod knew that he loved Elisa though, as he hadn't told anyone. Not even his closest friends. It was too private, too personal to let anyone know. Especially Elisa. But what Jarod made sense, that if he loved her enough, he should tell her. Matt leant back on his seat, thoughts of his undying love for Elisa kept coming to his mind. _Why does everything in life have to be so difficult?_

Elisa walked up and sat back down again. She took a sip of her coffee and silently sighed. She raised the cup up to her mouth and drunk the rest of the moderately warm coffee.

"You'll become addicted." Matt commented. Elisa lowered the cup from her mouth and gave him a _'who cares' _glare. "Forget it." He swore under his breath. _I only worry about your well being, but hey if you don't care. Neither will I._

Elisa frowned at him. "Why don't you just shut the hell up?" She snapped before throwing her, now empty, paper cup into the rubbish.

Matt laughed, "You are so up yourself. You can't let anyone say anything without biting back like a deep frost." He growled. Anger settled in his mind so he stood up and walked down the hall a short distance. _Why do you have to be such a bloody jerk for Matt? You love her. Being mean and nasty will only drive your friendship away, which would be worse than telling her how you feel and her not feeling that same way back._

Elisa marched up to Matt and turned him around. "Why can't you keep your opinion to yourself?" She yelled.

Matt pulled away from her and threw his hands in the air. "Why can't you be nicer to me?" He yelled back.

Matt and Elisa stared at each other, anger and fury written on both their faces. "Nicer to you?" Elisa asked. She searched her mind for the words to say next, she wanted to say she cared for him. And that she didn't mean to be so cruel with the words she spoke. But she couldn't find them. "Why should I be nicer to you for? You're _just_ my partner."

"Yeah, and you're _just_ my partner _too_." Matt replied.

Both of them looked at each other, what were they doing? Jarod got up and stood between them. "Quit arguing! You're just angry because of what Dracon and Demona have done. Friends are supposed to be there for each other, not be at each other's throats." His voice stern and filled with remorse.

Elisa shook her head, "Keep out of it, Jarod." She growled. Although in her heart, she knew he was right. _Just let us sort it out, i_s what she wanted to say, but couldn't. She only hoped Jarod understood.

Suddenly a man came out of Captain Chavez's office, "Fine Maria, if that is the way you want it, so be it. You cannot deny that last night was magnificent!"

"What's going on?" Elisa demanded. 

"None of your business!" The man yelled at Elisa before slapping her across the face. "It is between me and Maria only!"

Matt stepped forward and helped Elisa get her balance back. "Are you okay?" He asked, she pushed him back and stepped away. "Fine!"

Elisa ignored Matt and turned back to the six-foot, brown haired man in front of her. "I demand you tell me what's going on, _sir_."

The man rolled his eyes and pushed Elisa backward before raising his fist and hitting her across her cheek. "Back off!" He shouted.

"Richard!" Captain Chavez screeched from the doorway of her office. She stepped forward and pulled him backwards as Matt went to lunge at him with his fists clenched. 

Jarod moved in between the two men and held Matt back. 

Captain Chavez shook her head in disgust, "How could you hit her?" She turned to Elisa, "Are you okay, Maza?" She asked. 

"Yeah I am. Thanks Captain." Elisa replied. She touched the side of her face, it stung as if it had been hit with a wet cloth.

Captain Chavez turned to her boyfriend, he shook his head. "My hand on her face. I am sorry, I did not control my anger. Please, Detective, I beg for your forgiveness."

Elisa looked at Richard, "It's alright." She said. If she stayed angry with this _Richard_ fellow she would have to kiss goodbye any chances of stopping her anger towards Matt. And she wanted her anger towards him to stop, she only hoped that if hers stopped, so would his towards her.

Captain Chavez was still shaking her head at Richard, "I can't believe you. Please, please leave now. We'll talk later." She said, Richard nodded before walking away. As he passed the three Detectives Matt went to lunge at him again, but Jarod held him back and let Richard pass. 

"That son of a…" Matt muttered a few swear words under his breath and shrugged Jarod's hands off him. He walked up to Elisa and placed his hand on her shoulder, "Y… you're hurt." He said in a concerned tone.

Elisa looked at Matt, "It's okay, I'm alright." She said. Matt stepped back in sorrow. She saw the pain in his eyes, he was only caring. Why was she so blind as to not see that earlier? It was all he'd been doing all day, was caring. And all she did was bite his head off. "Thank you, Matt." She smiled. He smiled back, _Really caring_.

Captain Chavez cleared her throat, "The three of you have something for me?" 

Jarod nodded and handed Captain Chavez the brown envelope that contained the diary they had received earlier. "We've noted down some of the more important entries so that we can go over them. Cross reference them with notes of our own. We'll get back to you if there are any more developments in the case."

"Good, thank you, all three of you." Captain Chavez said, she looked at the three of them for a few moments. "I was going to suggest that you go over your notes together tonight… just go home and have a good nights sleep instead. We have a lot to do tomorrow." 

Elisa, Matt and Jarod nodded before saying goodnight and heading down the hallway. 

Captain Chavez sighed heavily and walked back into her office. After closing the door behind her she sat down at her desk, opened the envelope and begun to read over the diary. 

* * * *

****

Downtown Motel  
Half an hour later  
5:02 PM

Jarod opened up his red diary. There were articles in it, about Elisa and Matt from eleven months before. The headings on one of the articles read:

**__**

Detective released from hospital – Partner by side

Along with the article there was a picture of Elisa and Matt the day Elisa was released from care. She was sitting in a wheel chair as Matt pushed her along, her family walking behind them. But what marked Jarod as rather odd, was the presence of a woman, with red hair. What was she doing there? She wasn't a bystander, but rather someone that seemed to have more of a keen interest in what was happening than he'd thought. Maybe she was this Demona characters human form…

He walked over to his bed and lay down on his stomach before reaching for the phone. "I wonder what our friend Sydney has to say _today_." He said as he dialled Sydney's contact number.

__

"Sydney here." Sydney replied on the other end of the phone.

"Hello Sydney." Jarod said with a note of humour.

__

"Jarod." Sydney greeted him. "You rang. Just like you said in your email."

"Well, I do need some answers."

__

Sydney laughed. "I don't have any more answers for you Jarod. I've told you all I know about your family."

Jarod rolled his eyes, "I wasn't talking about my family. But rather something from one of my simulations. A gargoyle."

__

As soon as Sydney heard the word 'gargoyle' he froze. "What about her?"

"I need to know about her. What connections do The Centre have with her?"

__

"I only know what you told me Jarod. As far as I know, the Centre are after her because of something she did to one of an old employee's family."

Jarod looked up, as though he were looking directly at Sydney, "What happened to them?"

__

"She killed the father, because of who he was descended from. He has three children that survive him, Jason, Robyn and Jon Canmore. I'm sorry that I can't give you more information. Either it doesn't exist, or no one can access it."

Jarod held the phone down by his chest for a moment before raising it back up to his ear. "Thanks Sydney." He said before hanging up.

* * * *

****

Ben's Grocers  
5:12 PM

Elisa and Matt were walking across the car park up to the Supermarket's entrance. "I'm telling you, Elisa, I can get your groceries for you, and you can stay out in the car and wait."

Elisa laughed, "Honestly, Matt, I want to come for a walk, I'm sick of sitting down today. I feel like that's all I've been all day long."

Matt smiled at his partner, it was such a good feeling that they were no longer arguing with each other. "Well, as long as you're happy." He said.

They both smiled at each other and walked silently into the store, Matt grabbed a trolley from the trolley park just inside the door and pushed it around while Elisa grabbed the groceries she needed.

****

A short time later

Elisa placed two loaves of bread into the unsupervised trolley, _I wonder where Matt is?_ she wondered. "Elisa…" She turned around from the sound of her name being spoken, it was Larry, Beth's old boyfriend. "Long time no see. Geez Louise, how'd you get the shiner?" He asked of the, now visible, bruise on her cheek.

"Oh, that…" She said, touching the tender skin on her cheek. "Some guy did it down at the Station." She laughed, "I deserved it though."

Larry smiled, "You? But you're such a sweet and caring girl. At least you were."

"Yeah, _'were'_ is about right." Elisa looked at Larry, he'd changed a lot in the years. He looked older, his face had matured from the childish looks he had as a teen. "How are you doing anyway, Larry?"

"I'm doing quite well. My wife and I are expecting our first child in five months time. So we're pretty happy about that, keeps my mind off things."

"Oh?" Elisa asked. She wondered if Larry was still thinking about the accident, she was. Beth was. 

"The accident, when we were teens. I lost a best mate that day, but having this baby on the way with, Melanie I sort of feel like I'm filling a void that's been empty for so long."

"I know how you feel. For the past twelve months I've been thinking about my life and how much it's changed since the accident. I wonder at times where I'd be now if Jackson were still here."

"I'd say that you'd be together with a family of your own…" Larry said. He looked at Elisa, she seemed alone and unhappy. "Have you ever thought about raising a family, even though he's gone?"

Elisa closed her eyes tight, today more than any other day the thoughts of yearning to have children kept creeping up on her. "I do, every day. But, but I can't…"

"Work?" Larry asked.

Elisa looked at him before tears came to her eyes and she shook her head, "I can't have children. I wish everyday that what the doctors keep saying to me is all wrong, and that I'll be able to, but there's only a very slim chance… that I ever could. But I'm not putting my hopes into believing it might come true. I've just had too many disappointments in my life to keep on hoping anymore."

Larry put his hands on Elisa's shoulder, "I'm really sorry Elisa. I had no idea, but you can't give up hope. It'll happen for you if it's what you're destined for. "

"Destiny…" She shook her head, "Fate… yeah, it could happen, but I won't count on it."

"Can I ask, how'd it happen?" Larry asked her.

"I was shot accidentally, by a friend." She said. "Six years ago." Just then a flash back of the night when Brooklyn accidentally fired her pistol, shooting her in the stomach. She nearly died, but came back, thanks to her doctors, and Goliath and Broadway.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"You and me both." Elisa replied.

Larry looked at her sidelong, "Doesn't anyone else know?"

Elisa shook her head, "Only you, me, and my partner, Matt."

"Your boyfriend?"

"No, we work together, the whole cop thing… I told him last year, when we were both shot. Everything in my life seemed as though it were going from bad to worse, I had to tell someone, and he was the only one that I trust with all my life."

"You were both shot? How'd it happen?" Larry asked.

"It's a long story." Elisa told him.

Larry smiled and crossed his arms across his chest, "I like long stories. Go on…"

"Okay, well Matt and I were on this case, I'm not even sure what exactly we were doing for our case, but whatever it was, it wasn't what we thought it should have been. Especially when we entered the warehouse. Inside was the main suspect of our case. He'd been doing some small time gun deals around town for some time. But he'd gotten into dealing with the bigger weapons, but not for selling on the street. More he was the one buying them, from the bigger dealers. He was up to something, but we hadn't any idea what, we still don't know. So anyway, we get the call from the D.A telling us to make the move. We were waiting for backup when gunshots were heard from within the building…"

* * * *

****

15 December 1998  
Empty Cargo Warehouse  
Manhattan Docks  
2:11 PM

__

Elisa looked over at the door of the warehouse, she swore that she had just heard a gunshot. "Did you hear that Matt?"

"No, what?" Matt asked. He looked up from his notepad over to his partner. Another gunshot went off, "I heard that one. Where's back up? They should have been here by now."

"I don't know, but Captain Chavez warned me that they could get held up, and that we should go right in."

Matt looked at her, What? _"Shit Elisa, we don't know how many of them there are in there."_

Elisa pulled out her gun from the holster under her jacket, "Guess we'll have to take that risk then." She opened her door and jumped from the car. Matt rolled his eyes, pulled his gun out and climbed out of the car too. "Come on Bluestone, we've got innocent people to save by taking this creep off the streets."

"You really have it in for Tony don't you?"

"No, I just hate what he does and who he does it to." Elisa told her partner as they carefully crossed the empty car park. 

Upon reaching the building they tried opening the front roller door, but it was jammed. "Come on, the side door." Elisa said as she spotted the old rusted door to the side of the building. They walked around to the side door and tried the handle. "Our lucky day, huh Matt?"

"Must be, but don't you think it's all really strange. Back up is being held up, the side door is unlocked… something doesn't feel right…" Matt looked at Elisa, her eyes were once firm with belief the bust up would go all right had now become unsure… worried. "Don't look so worried Elisa, I'm sure everything will go fine. But if it doesn't, just know that I'll be there for you."

"And know that I'll be there for you, partner."

"Partner." Matt agreed with a smile, "Okay, time to get this show over and done with." 

They barged through the door, both protecting each other, Matt went in first, swinging his arms around as he searched each part of the small room they had entered into. Elisa followed in behind, watching her surroundings, just in case. 

The search went on as they made their way to a corridor that was through a door that looked newly in placed. "I've got a bad feeling about this…" Elisa said in a low tone as she made her way along the side of the wall, keeping her eye on all directions around her that she could. Matt nodded his head in agreement.

The corridor seemed long and eerie. "What the heck is going on Matt, it's too quiet. Where's the ambush?"

"I don't know partner, I don't know." Matt said, his head quickly turned around to his left from the sound of a maniacal laugh. It was Dracon. Matt looked from the wall where he had heard the sound over at Elisa. "Move, quick." Matt said pushing Elisa forward. "It's a trap!" He yelled as they ran down the corridor and through the exit. 

Matt knocked Elisa to the ground, he landed on top of her, looking behind him he seen a sliding door close down at the entry to the corridor they were just in. He let out a sigh before looking down at Elisa, he quickly stumbled to his feet before helping her stand up too. 

"Thanks." Elisa said, dusting off the seat of her pants.

"Sorry for pushing you, just didn't want to lose you in there."

Elisa smiled and looked around the room. It was cream, freshly painted too. On the other side of the room was a door, obviously leading out into the main storage area of the warehouse. She looked above, there was a manhole. "I wonder…" She said. After taking another quick look around the room she saw a stool sitting beside the window. "Hand me the stool." She said as she replaced her gun back into its holster.

"Sure thing." Matt said and handed Elisa the stool. "What are you going to do with it?" He asked.

Elisa placed the stool just below the manhole and turned to look at Matt, "I'm sure there's a way up there so we can see what's below us, and how many guys are out there."

"And why do you get to do it for?"

"Because I'm smaller than you, that and I thought up the idea to look. But you can open it up for me…"

Matt laughed and got up on the stool, he opened up the manhole and climbed back down. "It's dark up there, want a torch?"

"Nope, got one, thanks anyway." 

Matt smiled before watching as she made her way up onto the stool and then up through the roof.

Up in the roof Elisa couldn't see a thing, she reached into her jacket and removed her torch, she flicked the switch and the small area soon in lit up. "Isn't this nice…" Elisa said sarcastically of the cobwebs that adorned the walls. She crawled along the ground, she reached an opening where upon looking out she could see everything below her. There were only four men that she could see of whom were still standing. Except one man, who was hunched over a crate, as Glasses walked up to him the man screamed in pain. As Elisa reached for her gun another shot went off, the man that was hunched over the crate was no longer, he was on the ground. Just then another shot went off, Glasses fell to the ground, the three remaining men begun running in all directions, including Dracon himself. But another shot went off, Dracon dropped to the ground, grabbing at his leg. 

Elisa pulled herself forward and looked down, Matt was standing there, his gun out aimed directly at Dracon. "Game's over Tony." Matt said.

Dracon waited where he was, slowly reaching for a crowbar, Matt walked closer to him, Dracon jumped up and swung the crowbar, smashing Matt in the head with it. He took off. Matt stumbled over and then stood back up, he looked around and then begun chasing off after Dracon.

Elisa could see over at the other end of the building the other two men that also took off, they opened up a door and went out. "Shit!" Elisa grumbled under her breath. Had she been down there with her partner she would have caught those other two. But it was too late and no use having regrets for not doing just what she should have. 

Elisa let out a deep breath of air as she pushed herself up and begun heading along the wide railings that supported the roofing of the building. She made her way across to where she last saw Matt and Dracon running to. As she reached an ending in the railing she looked down below.

"No more moves Dracon." Matt said with a sneer. He rubbed his sore head and saw blood on the tips of his fingers. He came over dizzy and staggered back but seemed able to quickly regain his position.

Dracon smirked and pulled his gun, "That's where you're wrong, Bluestone. It appears, you're the one with no more moves." He cocked the gun and aimed at Matt's chest. "I don't take kindly to being shot in the leg, Bluestone." He moved his finger to rest against the trigger and then let out a laugh. "You're going to die from my gun… and the sad part… Maza isn't here to save your ass like last time."

"Wrong Tony!" Elisa yelled from the railing above. She jumped down and landed on top of Dracon causing them to fall on the ground. The gun went off and shot Matt in his left shoulder…

****

Elisa wiped the tears from her eyes, "After I jumped down Dracon went to shoot Matt again but I jumped out in front of the bullet, getting shot in my chest. I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for my partner."

"So what made you begin to think about starting a family? Because of how you came to losing your life?" Larry asked.

Elisa nodded, "I think about it every single day when I put on my badge. I wonder if it's worth risking my life day after day, when I could get a transfer to a desk job and then I could have the time to raise one. But…"

"True friendship, sometimes it leads to true love."

"What?" Elisa asked. Larry smiled at her, "What has that anything to do with what I said?"

Larry laughed at Elisa, "How much do you love him?" 

Elisa looked at him sidelong, _Who are you going on about? _

"You're partner." He said, as if he'd read her mind.

Elisa looked in shock at Larry, _What makes you think I'm in love with my partner? _"My partner? Yeah, I guess I am." She smiled. How could she hold back the truth, she did love Matt. _I just told an old friend that I'm in love with Matt? _She smiled inside realising how great it felt to finally tell someone how she was feeling deep inside her heart. 

"How much do you love him? Enough to let him know how you feel?"

Elisa looked down, shamefully, she hadn't told Matt how she felt, at least not yet. "Yeah, enough to tell him. Someday."

"Someday isn't soon enough, let him know now. Before it's too late." Larry looked around him before turning back to Elisa, "Listen, I've gotta get going. But you take good care of yourself now, okay?"

"Yeah I will, and you too. Give my best to, Melanie."

"Will do, and don't forget to tell your partner." Larry added before waving goodbye and walking away.

Elisa let out a breath of air, "Tell me what?" She heard Matt ask from behind. She turned around, "What do you have to tell me?" He asked walking a little closer and placing some drinks and chips into the trolley.

"That, you're lucky to be partnered up with me." Elisa lied. _I can't tell him, not yet, the time isn't right._

Matt smiled, "Well I already know that. I am lucky to have you for a partner, and a friend." He had to admit it, he did think Elisa was his best friend. "Hey ah, do you want to come over tonight and watch a video?"

Elisa smiled, "Sure… oh no, wait, I can't." Matt seemed saddened from what she'd said. "How about we watch one at my place? It's just that I've got to feed Cagney and all."

Matt gave her another smile, "I can understand that. Yeah, we can watch it at your place." He said. The two of them continued to walk along the isles.

****

A few minutes later  
Out in the car park

Matt sat down in the driver's seat of the car and turned the ignition. The car roared to life, he changed the gear stick into reverse, he looked around before taking his foot off the brake and placing it onto the accelerator, the car moved back smoothly. Across by the entrance of the store Elisa was standing with the seven bags of groceries by her feet that the two of them had just purchased. 

Matt pulled the car up in front of Elisa. He climbed out and walked around the other side. "I'll do that." He offered as Elisa went to pick up one of the bags. "You sit in the car, I'll do the rest." 

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping." She said. But Matt shook his head and suggested again that she go sit in the car. 

Matt watched as Elisa climbed into the car, he put the groceries into the opened back boot and then closed it shut. He walked around to the driver's side and sat down on the seat. 

After Matt started the car moving Elisa let out a sigh. "You okay?" He asked.

Elisa shrugged her shoulders, "I… I'm…" _'I'm in love with you.' How hard can it be to say it? _She wanted to just say, _I'm in love with you_, but couldn't. She wished she could. "Why is that what you need to say, is always so hard to say?"

"Because you can be afraid to say it, or afraid of what will happen after you say it." Matt said gently. 

Elisa closed her eyes, she wanted him to know that she loved him with all her heart. But, there was still Goliath, she was with him. She couldn't betray their relationship. _Huh! What relationship? _They weren't really involved, sure she loved him, but like a really close friend or relative. She didn't love him like a man and woman would if they were to spend the rest of their lives together. That was it! Before she told Matt how she felt, she had to deal with Goliath. 

She turned to look at Matt, he was so loving, compassionate… caring. They were some of the main reasons she loved him, those and lots more. "Listen Matt, before we get to my place, can we quickly go the Eyrie Building? I need to talk with Goliath."

Matt nodded, "No problem." He said cheerfully.

There was a compelling silence all the way to the Eyrie Building. Elisa kept running through her mind all the things she wanted to say to Matt, and all the things she needed to say to Goliath. _Why does it always have to be so hard? _She asked. The car pulled up out front of the building and suddenly Elisa felt a deep unease in her stomach, "I'll go pick up that video, then I'll be right back." Matt said as Elisa climbed out of the car. 

"Okay." She said before watching him drive away. Love, that's all she could think about. But it wasn't Love in general, but whom out of Goliath and Matt that she loved the most. Her heart told her Matt, but her thoughts told her Goliath. Shouldn't she follow her heart? After all, didn't she believe that following her heart would lead her to happiness? Where as if she followed her thoughts of what she thought she wanted, wouldn't that lead to unhappiness? She didn't know.

****

Castle Wyvern  
Eyrie Building  
A few minutes later

The cold Northerly winds gusted through Elisa's hair as she stepped out onto the tower, "Elisa, what a pleasant surprise." Goliath greeted her. They walked up to each other and hugged. "I have not seen you much in a while now."

Elisa smiled, "Yeah, well, Captain Chavez has put Matt and I onto day shift. After what happened at the warehouse."

"But in your line of duty, it is something that can happen, no matter what." Goliath said, his voice sounded as if he cared, but yet as if something else was on his mind.

Elisa put her hand on Goliath's arm, "True. Matt and I put up protest after protest, but she still wouldn't listen. We were informed that we'll be put back onto night duty, but it all depends on what happens in the next week or so, I guess. As we're on this big case at the moment, it's connected somehow with the shooting, so we're putting all we can into it. I was just off home now, but I needed to talk with you before I called it a night."

"Then we shall." Goliath said smiling. "I too must tell you something, but you may go first."

Elisa felt her heart begin to race as she took another look at Goliath, should she really break up with him? The way she felt about him _was_ love. She couldn't stop herself from admitting it, there was no stopping of Love. Her feelings for Matt, weren't feelings of Love, but friendship and respect. She'd gotten her feelings for them both around the wrong way. She let herself believe she didn't love Goliath, but that she loved Matt instead. How silly she had been. Now that she knew the real ways she felt, it would all be alright. "Goliath… about us..." She started. 

Goliath put his hand up for silence. "Before you say more, you must know that I cannot be with you anymore. For Kitania, from Japan, she came here just over a month ago." He looked away from her, "You… you have not came over for four months now, I thought, perhaps, it were over between us."

Elisa shook her head in pain, even though he had not spoken the words, she knew that he had taken another as his mate. "How could you?" Why was she asking him that for? Weren't her feelings for Matt just as bad as dating him while she was seeing Goliath? No, they weren't. Because… because lots of reasons why they weren't! "I've been worrying like hell because I've been having feelings for someone else and felt like I was betraying you. And then, then I come up here just to find out that you have chosen another to be your mate!" She screamed.

"Elisa, things change. Life... goes on. You yourself said that you had found another."

"No I didn't. I said that I've been worrying like hell because I had _feelings_ for someone else. I didn't _find_ another person to love. I thought you were better than that…" Elisa said. "But I guess I was wrong about you." She shook her head at Goliath before turning away and heading down the stairs.

As Elisa made her way down to ground level in the main elevator she begun crying. It wasn't Goliath's unfaithfulness that was the problem, but something else. She was sure it was about Matt. She really loved him, yet… yet so many things.

****

Downstairs  
A few minutes later

Elisa climbed into the passenger side of the Ford Fairlane, "Can we please go." She said before slamming the door behind her. She put on her seat belt and turned to Matt, "Did you pick up a video like you said you were going to?"

"Yeah, ah, Never Been Kissed. Drew Barrymore film." Matt said pointing to the seat behind them. Elisa nodded, as the car started moving along Matt begun to worry about her. "Are you okay? You seem, different than before."

"I'm fine. Just… I've got to tell someone. Matt, Goliath and I… we sort of… broke up."

Matt felt great inside. Elisa wasn't seeing anyone any more. That meant… that meant that he couldn't tell her how he felt. Not now. "I'm sorry… Elisa… I wish I could say something more comforting, but I don't know what to say. I'm just, really sorry that he did that to you."

Elisa burst into tears and sobbed hard into her hands, "Matt… I don't know what to do. I was going to talk with him about our relationship. But then… he… he said he'd been seeing some gargoyle from Japan, while we were going out. It made me so angry. And then, he made it seem as though I were seeing someone else too… but I would never have done that. It's all my fault." She cried, shaking her head.

Matt put his hand on her shoulder, "Elisa, never believe that, his unfaithfulness was wrong, and caused by him. You didn't cheat on him, like he did to you. You're a great person, never believe it was your fault, or let him blame you." He said. 

"Have you ever been through anything like this?" Elisa asked through teary eyes.

Matt nodded, "Similar to it, yeah. Well, my ex-fiancee dumped me because she met this guy Pop introduced her to, my cousin. I was really furious and said some things I shouldn't have, it was one week before I went off to college back in ninety one…"

* * * *

****

January 17th, 1991  
Bluestone Residence  
2:13 PM

__

A blonde haired, blue eyed six-foot young woman stood before a younger Matt. She was wearing a long summer dress that was multi-patterned with reds and yellows. Her hair was short, but just a little longer than Matt's was at the time. "Matthew, I… I can't believe you're taking this so badly."

Matt swung around, his six inch long hair waving about his face, "You can't believe I'm taking this so badly?" His voice was filled with anger, rage, and hatred. "What gives you the damn right to think that I wouldn't, Julie?"

Julie shook her head at Matt, "Why can't you be happy for me instead of so angry? Isn't my happiness important to you?"

Matt rolled his eyes, her happiness was important to him. Yeah, the happiness she would have with him, not his cousin Jack. "Not when you're going out with my cousin, and for the last four months." He said firmly.

Julie slapped Matt across his face before sharply turning away and slamming the door behind her as she stormed off down the hall. Matt sat on the edge of his bed, he didn't cry, he only looked over at his bedside cabinet where the ring he had purchased early that day, he'd planned to ask Julie to marry him this evening. But then, he found out she'd been unfaithful, with his cousin! 

That was it, he'd had it with his father butting his nose into his affairs. "That's enough!" He said aloud, he slammed his fist into the edge of the bed before getting up and walking out to the hall, after opening the door, and heading down to the kitchen where his parents were eating their dinner.

His father, a somewhat short, compared to Matt, ginger bearded man in his late sixties, sat opposite Matt's mother, a blonde haired woman who would always have a special place in Matt's heart. She was always there for Matt, he only hoped she wouldn't abandon him for what he was about to say to his father. 

Mr Bluestone looked up at his son, "Matthew, my son, here take a seat, it's your favourite, mushroom quiche with slivers of bacon mixed in." He said, before returning his look to the food on the table in front of them.

"I hate bacon, Pop." Matt growled, his fists clenched by his side. "And you."

Mr Bluestone quickly looked up at his son, "What did you say boy?" He demanded with anger.

Matt stood firm in his position, "I said I hate you. You… you ruined my life." Matt's voice was touched deeply with sorrow. He only hoped his father would see it and apologise for causing his heart to be broken.

Mrs Bluestone looked over at her husband, "Dave, please…"

Mr Bluestone looked at his wife and smiled at her as he gently squeezed her hand, "Easy Margaret, the boy's just angry because he's not man enough to accept the fact his girlfriend never loved him."

Matt swore viciously at his father, "I hate your guts, you stay the hell out of my life. You're no longer my father. I never want to see you again."

Mr Bluestone glared at his son, "You have exactly until I've finished my meal to have left this residence. And you're never to come back."

"Dave…" A teary eyed Mrs Bluestone protested, but her husband raised his hand for silence so she slumped back in her seat. Her eyes firmly set on Matt. 

"Alright then, you can come back, if you apologise, otherwise you are no longer a part of this family." Mr Bluestone concluded.

Matt stood up straighter, "I will never _apologise to you." He told him before turning around and heading back up the stairs._

Mrs Bluestone clutched at her apron, she didn't want this happening in the family. Her husband had already outcast Matt's older brother Kenneth because of the same reasoning, Kenneth wouldn't apologise to their father after he set his girlfriend up with another one of the boys' cousins. "Please Dave, don't do this to him. Don't do this to me." Her heart was pounding strong in the hope her husband would change his mind. But he shook his head and finished eating his dinner. Mrs Bluestone looked over to the doorway that was only too familiar, both her boys stood there as they were cast out of the family. And she was, on both occasions, unable to keep her husband from making them leave. 

She wept into her hands over the table as she prayed to God for help. 'Please Lord…'_ She begun praying in her mind. '_I have but lost my oldest son already, please make mine husband to change his mind. He does love them… I know he does…'

* * * *

Matt closed his eyes and let the tears stream out, "I left shortly before Pop finished his dinner. I didn't take much with me, just my clothes, some books, photos… and memories. I never went back. Mum called me six months later, telling me Kenneth apologised and that I should do the same, but I couldn't. I still can't… I loved my father, but when he betrayed me like that…" He wanted to say more, but the words wouldn't come out.

Elisa put her hand on Matt's shoulder, "I'm sorry. What your father did to you was really terrible. But your mother, she must be so sad, not being able to see you."

Matt nodded, "Yeah, she is. But we talk on the phone once a week, sometimes twice. Depending on whether or not Pop's home."

"Maybe you should go out and see her." She suggested. Matt turned and looked at her, "I can go with you if you'd like." 

"You'd really do that for me?" He asked.

Elisa nodded, "Yeah, I would. Just tell me when, and we can go out there."

"M… maybe, in January? It's her Birthday, on the 13th. I'd really like to surprise her."

Elisa moved her hand onto his arm, "I think it'd be lovely, she'd really like it." She said. 

Matt nodded, "Yeah, she would. We should get going, watch this movie, have dinner." He said. Elisa nodded in agreement. 

* * * *

****

Elisa's Apartment  
In the Kitchen  
8:27 PM

Matt placed the last dish in the cupboard, after hanging the tea towel up he looked over at Elisa, he watched her as she put the rack in the cupboard and brushed back her hair. It was as if that single action played back in slow motion through his mind. He shook his head to snap himself out of it, "Elisa, thanks for dinner, and the movie." He said.

Elisa looked at him and smiled, "You're welcome." She said, "It was really great having you here…" She paused for a minute as their eyes connected, "Maybe, we could do it again sometime."

"That'd be great." Matt replied, giving her a gentle smile. They walked out to the living room where they sat down on the couch, side by side. "So who's your cleaning lady? I'd sure like her to come clean my place, it's a pig sty."

Letting out a laugh Elisa patted Matt on his chest, "Matt, Matt, Matt… I don't have a cleaning lady."

Matt looked at her with questioning eyes, "You keep your place this clean, yourself?"

She nodded, "Yeah… not all the time, I used to be a complete neat freak, but now… I let it get messy sometimes, and then I clean up. I'm just glad I cleaned up before we had dinner."

"Me too." Matt replied. He winced as Elisa punched him in his shoulder, "Kidding… I'm kidding."

Elisa laughed again, "I know… and… I'm sorry I hit you… I shouldn't have."

Matt gave her a smile and moved more comfortably on the couch to face her, "It's okay, I deserved it for what I said." They both smiled at each other, "So… next time I come over, what'll we watch? Ever After?" 

"You like Drew Barrymore a lot don't you?" Elisa asked with a smile.

"Loved her in E.T."

"Who didn't. She was so cute back then…"

"She still is." Matt replied, he seemed to look into an empty space as he thought of Drew in Boys on the Side, "Very cute…"

Elisa rolled her eyes and smiled at him, as she sat back on the couch Matt slipped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close to him. She lay her head against his chest and closed her eyes, "I could sleep like this for a few hours." She yawned.

Matt smiled and begun stroking his hand through her hair as she begun drifting off to sleep…

* * * *

__

As Matt walked into Elisa's room he could see her lying in her bed, "Hey partner." He greeted her. She gave him a warm smile as he walked in and stopped by her bed. "Can I… show you something? It's outside."

Elisa laughed, "Matt, I'd love to. But you know that I can't go outside just yet."

"Elisa, you're allowed to be taken for a ride in your wheelchair. How can this be any different? You'll be wrapped in blankets to keep you warm."

Elisa sighed, "Even if I say no, you won't listen, will you?"

Matt thought for a few seconds, "Nope." He replied, walking over to the wheelchair and wheeling it over to her bed. "Time to get in princess." He said, Elisa looked up at him with, 'don't call me that' eyes. "Sorry, Elisa." He smiled.

Elisa gave him a smile back before folding back her blankets and carefully sitting upwards on the edge of the bed. _"I don't want to get you into trouble, so maybe we shouldn't."_

"It's okay. I'm willing to take the risk of getting into trouble, because what I've got to show you is really special."

"Can't you just tell me what it is?"

"No, it's a surprise." Matt said, he took the top two blankets off Elisa's bed and wrapped them around her. "We'll put these around you to keep you warm, I don't want you to get a chill or anything."

"Thanks." Elisa replied, she stood up from the bed and slid over into the wheelchair with Matt's help. "Mom and Dad came over just before lunch today, I… I really hurt them, by not letting them see me sooner. I just couldn't face them, that was all."

"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself to me, Elisa. If my old man came to see me, I wouldn't let him in. My Mom and brother, yeah. But him, no way."

Elisa looked up at Matt, "What happened?" She asked.

"Just some stuff, that I don't really want to talk about, at the moment." Matt replied. Elisa nodded, she knew how that felt. "Besides that, I want to keep the mood happy. Come on, we better get going before the nurse comes around." They both laughed before heading out the door.

As they went out to the main hallway, away from the ward, they were stopped by Elisa's doctor. "Elisa, how are you feeling?" He asked.

"Pretty good."

"Well going out and about in your wheel chair, and sitting up, won't do any good for the healing process. You need to be back in your room, lying down."

Matt rolled his eyes, "Come on doc, we're just going for a little walk. She's wrapped up warm, so you've got nothing to worry about. I'll have her back into her room soon."

Doctor Chato looked Matt up and down with a raised eyebrow. "She better be... And don't_ you take her outside…" He warned before walking away._

Matt walked to the front of Elisa and looked down at her, "Geez, where'd you find that wiener?" He asked shaking his head.

Elisa laughed and gently kicked Matt in the shin, "Come on you, show me this surprise before I kick you again."

Matt rubbed the lower part of his leg, pretending he was in pain before looking up at her and winking, "Alright, alright." He said as she went to kick him again. He continued pushing her along the hallway, making merry of the situation by beginning to sing, 'I'm Henry the Eighth I Am' as they made their way down the hall. Everyone glared at him as they passed by, but Matt just grinned and continued singing and soon Elisa joined in. 

"Nice singing." Someone yelled, "Shame about the song."

"Nah!" Someone else yelled, "The song sucks and so do you."

"And here we are." Matt said as he slowed the wheelchair down, they were at the main entrance, no, they were going through the main entrance, down the ramp outside and onto the path. "It's around the right side of the building…" He said. 

Elisa watched the stares from the people around her, why were they staring for? She probably looked a mess, who cared! She didn't. Lies! She did care. "Matt, why are they staring for?" She asked.

Matt looked around, "Probably because they think I'm a lunatic bringing you outside in this kind of temperature." He replied.

"Well I wish they'd stop. Don't they know the meaning of privacy."

"Probably not." Matt replied, as if half occupied with something else. As they made their way around the corner Matt continued pushing her along for a short while more before turning to the left and making his way across the snow covered grass. "Nearly there." He said, his voice very cheerful. 

As he pulled the wheelchair to a stop Elisa noticed that they were in front of a small pond. She went to look in when Matt stood in front of her, "Up you get." He said, taking her hands in his and helping her up.

"Matt… I'm not supposed to be walking just yet." She said in protest. 

But Matt didn't listen, he put his arm around Elisa's waist very carefully, to help keep her balance and then he helped her step closer to the pond, "What do you think?" He asked.

Below the ice were lights that were there in the water for the goldfish that used to reside there before the winter season hit. The lights below sparkled red, blue, green and yellow. "It's beautiful." Elisa said, she wanted to step closer, but she felt unsure on her feet so didn't dare.

"I saw it out of the window last night, I wanted to show you up close, it's more beautiful that way."

Elisa turned around carefully in Matt's arm and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "You're the best friend ever. Without you… I don't think things would have been very easy for me."

Matt smiled and gave her a hug, "That's what friends are for." 

They stayed and watched the lights for a few more minutes before heading back. As they made their way around the front and through back inside the hospital Elisa felt a sharp pain go through her stomach and chest, she winced in pain. "Matt!" She cried out.

Matt stopped the wheelchair and ran to the front of her, "Elisa… are you okay?" He asked. But when Elisa looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears, he knew she wasn't. He stood up and looked around, "We need a doctor here!" He shouted. "Elisa, it's going to be okay." He said, taking her hand in his, "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have taken you outside. I'm such an idiot."

Elisa shook her head, "No, you're not! Matt…" She cried out again as another pain shot through her stomach. "What you did was really wonderful." She told him before she burst into tears.

Matt was pulled back by someone, shoved aside like an old cloth. Mind you that was about how he felt at that very moment. Like an old useless cloth that wasn't good for anything but to be thrown into the trash. "I'm so sorry." He cried. 

The doctor that pulled him away was Elisa's doctor. "You…" Doctor Chato glared at Matt with an intense glare that made him step back. "You useless waste of anyone's time…" He said, his voice seeming intent on hurting as much as physical actions could. He ordered one of the nurses to wheel Elisa back to her room before turning to Matt, "She'll be fine, but your stupidity could have caused serious injuries, they still can. I warned you earlier…I don't think you should stay. Please leave" He said sternly.

Matt looked at Doctor Chato sidelong, "You can't stop me from visiting Elisa!" He yelled, quickly turning away from the doctor and heading down the hall. As he walked along his pace slowed down, maybe Doctor Chato was right. His stupidity could have cost Elisa her recovery… it could have cost her, her life. 

* * * *

As Matt opened his eyes, tears that had been held behind closed eyelids streamed out, "I'm so sorry…" He cried. The light in the room was on, it took him a while to adjust to where he was lying, he was lying against a stack of pillows on his bed. As he sat up a framed picture slid of his bare chest and onto his lap. 

He picked up the picture, it was of himself and Elisa, at the local pool. It was taken during the summer, when they were helping out in a programme that taught young children how to swim.

Just as Matt closed his eyes to go back to sleep he had a flash back of the night before appear in his mind, it was as if he was still there.

__

Elisa lay asleep in Matt's arms, her head rested against his chest. It seemed as though every breath they took was in syncrination with one another. He lifted his hand and stroked her head, her hair was gentle and soft between his fingers. "I wish that things could be like this forever…." He whispered in her ear before easing away from her. Matt lifted Elisa up off the couch, carried her through to her bedroom and lay her down on the bed. As he put a blanket over her motionless body she called out his name. Matt brushed back loose strands of her hair, "Goodnight... Elisa." He whispered before kissing her forehead.

A pang of loneliness shot through Matt as he made his way out to the living room, picked up his overcoat, turned off the lights and left Elisa's apartment.

Matt blinked, the memory had faded from his view, just a auditory memory now, no long visual. He took another look at the photo in front of him, looking at her eyes he seen something. She was looking at him, but not with just the look of two people who know each other really well but rather of a way that seemed to tell him that she was just starting to care for him, in more than the way of friendship and being partners.

He touched her face in the picture, "I think… I've fallen in love with you. And when this case is over, I'm going to tell you… I swear I will." He said before lying back down and closing his eyes, holding the picture tight against his chest.

* * * *

****

Elisa's Apartment

As Elisa woke up she could hear a loud noise by her head, it sounded muffled, as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes she seen Cagney lying there. She turned on the bedside lamp and sat up, "Huh?" She didn't remember coming into her room and going to bed, nor did she remember lying on top of her bed and sleeping with just one blanket over top of her. Her last recollections of last night were of falling asleep in Matt's arms out in the living room. "Matt… he must have put me in here."

She smiled at Cagney and ruffled his fur as she turned back the blanket and sat up, just then she heard someone thumping on the front door. She looked over at her clock, it was just after five in the morning! "Whoever that is must have a death wish…"

Elisa then jumped up off the bed and ran out through to the living room, turning on the lights on the way through. 

Upon opening her apartment door she stood there in shock. "Wan-Lee… wh…" She mumbled. That guy did have a death wish, especially to be anywhere near her.

Wan-Lee stepped into her apartment, taking a look around before turning to her. "What am I doing here? I've come to sweep you off your feet, marry you and spend the rest of my life with you…"

"Grow a brain…"

"Only if you grow a conscience… You hurt me that day… our love was so young. But no! you had to break it off because you drove me into the arms of another."

Elisa looked at him, "Get out."

Wan-Lee walked in and stopped in front of her, "There's a man called Abhidad Moi. He owns a restaurant called the Rockside Restaurant, he's expecting a visit from a nobody couple at 9 o'clock this morning. His interests, are how do you say, of past events." Wan-Lee said. He took one more look around him before going out the door and heading down the hall.

Elisa closed and locked the door quickly, she hated that son-of-a-bitch so much. She walked over to the couch, she reached down, picked up the phone off the coffee table and dialled Captain Chavez's number.

* * * *

****

23rd Precinct  
6:00 AM

Elisa took another look at the door of Captain Chavez's office, she could see Matt's figure behind the glass pane. As the door opened and he stepped through she could have sworn her heart stopped beating. Although he was wearing his shirt, it was undone, as was his tie and his overcoat. His chest and stomach weren't rippling with muscles, but he did have them, and they were visible to a great extent. _He should really… do his shirt up… not that he's not great to look at… because he is… _She shook the thoughts from her head, she didn't need to be clouding her head up with thoughts of him, I mean she knew that it was love for him that she felt, and she also knew that she had to let him know. But it had to wait, now wasn't the time... nor was it the place.

Matt could feel Elisa watching him as he came in. After closing the door he buttoned up his shirt, he was supposed to have been dressed by now, but he'd had a few delays in the process of doing what he needed to do.

"When you're ready, I'd like to get started." Captain Chavez said.

Matt nodded and did up every button on his shirt, and then proceeded to tie his tie. After tying and straightening it, he looked over to Elisa who was looking at him, he gave her a wink, and got a smile in return. "Ready Captain…" He said, taking a seat next to Elisa. _Wow she smells great. Musk, my favourite perfume._

"As the three of you know we have a new lead, Elisa was informed that Abhidad Moi is wanting to start a war between the Black Widows, and the Tarantella's. The same gangs who's leaders, each had their youngest son taken from them. Both leaders blame the other, when it's apparent to us that neither of them did it. So, Matt, Elisa, I need the two of you to go down to his restaurant… The Rockside Restaurant. I want you to find out, whichever way that you can, if there is a war going down, why he's wanting to start one, and how. Understood?"

Matt and Elisa both nodded, "Good…" Captain Chavez begun, "Boris Green is here, waiting down in the gents locker room for you Matt, and Sandra Green, his wife, is waiting for you Elisa, in the lady's changing room. I'll ring up and make reservations for you both. Jarod will fill you in on the rest. Alright? Good, let's get this thing underway." She said, motioning to the doorway, "Good luck Detectives."

"Thanks Captain." Elisa said, "Yeah, thanks." Matt added as they made their way to the doorway.

* * * *

****

The Rockside Restaurant  
9:27 AM

Matt's Nissan Pathfinder came to a halt in the near empty car park of the Rockside Restaurant. "Why the hell did Boris choose such crap clothing?" Matt asked, the black leather pants and red silk shirt were bugging him, not only because they were tight, but also because it wasn't the kind of clothing he liked to wear. He went to scratch as his head when Elisa pulled his hand down, the short black wig was bugging the shit out of him too. "Why couldn't I have gotten cool stuff like you get to wear?"

Elisa smiled and shook her head, "I don't really think you'd like to wear tight black leather pants, black blouse and leather jacket." She groaned. "I prefer my jeans, black T-shirt and red jacket."

Matt gave her a smile, he unbuckled his seat belt and removed the keys from the ignition, "Ready?" He asked.

"Will it even be open now?" Elisa asked, removing her seatbelt.

Matt looked over at the roughcast building, "Captain rang up, something about a meeting being made for us. Or something like that, I'm not too sure exactly what was said."

"Oh okay." Elisa replied, she opened her door and climbed out of the truck. After getting out his side of the vehicle, Matt waited for Elisa to close her door before he closed his and locked the truck up.

Matt waited as Elisa came around the other side of the truck, he managed to slip his keys into his pocket before stepping up to her and giving her a smile, "Time to, rock this place… no pun intended."

As they went up to the main entrance they were greeted by a short Englishman, "You must be, Matthew and Elisa, I am Malvolio… Mr Moi, has been waiting for you."

"Told ya." Matt whispered in Elisa ear as they were led through the main entrance and through to a back room. It was a waiting room by the looks of it, "How long will we have to wait for?" Matt asked Malvolio.

"Matthew… Mr Moi will be with you as soon as his current… meeting has finished." Malvolio said, he bowed gentleman like before turning and leaving the room.

Matt let out a sigh, he turned to Elisa who was smiling and shaking her head, "What?" He asked. But Elisa just continued to shake her head as she sat down. He sat down on the seat next to her and started whistling a tune. 

Listening carefully to the tune, Elisa could make out that it was a Madonna song. But which one she didn't know. 

Just then the door on the other side of the room opened up and a man in a white suit, with a bald head came out. "Matthew… Elisa… please, come on in." He said. After they came in he closed the door behind them and motioned for them to follow him through another door to their right. "I am, Abhidad Moi… I would please like you to join me for breakfast… all new customers must dine with the owner. If that is okay?"

Matt and Elisa exchanged looks, "It's fine." Matt told him.

"As you may know…" Abhidad Moi begun, "I am a man of dancing, eating and drinking… well mostly the eating. I love to eat. That is why I am the size man I am today." He said proudly, patting the belly he sported underneath his clothing. "So, we shall dance first, eat, then we shall drink. It will be a merry time. Then after doing all this, we shall talk."

The room they entered was red, but it wasn't bright, it was quite dim. At one end of the room was a dining area, with around nine small round tables, size enough for four people to dine, per table. And at the other end of the room was a dancing area, couples were dancing together like they had just taken some kind of hyper pill. The music playing was upbeat and definitely made the dancers 'jibe' like there was no tomorrow.

Abhidad Moi cleared his throat, "It would please me if I could have the honour of this dance." He said to Elisa, extending his hand. She smiled and accepted, placing her hand in his, they walked together over to the dance floor.

Matt went to sit down when a young woman, around her mid twenties, with deep black hair came up to him and without a word between the two of them, led him to the dance floor.

As the four of them entered the dance floor Abhidad Moi motioned for a new song, the current 5IVE song stopped and Aqua's '_Happy Boys & Girls_' started playing. "I hate this song." Matt moaned as the woman he was with started dancing. He tried moving his body to the music, but it just wasn't happening. He looked like a fool and he knew it. _Elisa probably thinks I'm the worst dancer in the world..._

"Come on sweetie, dance like I know you can!" The woman he was trying to dance with yelled over top the music. "Move your hips honey!"

Elisa heard what the woman with Matt yelled, _Why doesn't she get a life… _"…Elisa." She heard Abhidad Moi saying, she looked up at him and he was smiling at her. "You're not dancing."

She smiled at him before she too was now swinging her body to the music, just as everyone else around her was, everyone except Matt. He looked confused and upset, Elisa pulled away from Abhidad Moi, "I've got to dance with Matt…hew" She said before making her way over to Matt. "Can I have this dance?" She asked him.

Matt turned around, "Yeah, sure…" He replied. They both smiled at each other before starting to dance to the song.

Matt tried to move his body like Elisa was, but it was too hard for him. He was about to give up when Elisa placed her hand on his arm, "Like this." She told him loud enough to hear, she showed him a few basic moves. He smiled at her, watching the moves she made. Her body moving as if without any effort. "Come on Matt, dance." She told him.

Matt waited a few seconds before he started dancing again. And when he moved, his body suited every move he made. As if all he needed was a little help and a reason to dance. His reason... Elisa. Soon they were happily dancing to the song. To some they seemed energetic. And to others they were vibrant... everything you'd expect from a happy couple who danced together all the time with the same energy, and the same vibrancy. And when the song stopped, they too stopped. Standing in front of one another, just looking into each other's eyes.

The next song begun playing. Beats started the song, which in time lead it to the first lyrics of the song.

__

You've got a way with me  
Somehow you got me to believe  
In everything that I could be

As they stood there, 'You've Got a Way' by Shania Twain, started to play, floating around them like a dream, they looked into each other's eyes, seeing what they hadn't seen before. Seeing what they never knew could exist between them... Matt stepped up to Elisa first, and then she stepped closer to him. They put their arms around one another, their bodies gently touched as they started moving gently along the ground which now seemed like a cloud. The feeling of every movement grew less and less noticeable as the song played on.

__

It's in the way you want me  
It's in the way you hold me  
The way you show me just what love's made of  
It's in the way we make love

An expression of what they both were feeling appeared on their faces with gentle smiles. They were slow dancing like they didn't know they could, moving right, then left, and then right again. The same movements over and over again, as if they were moving around on the same spot. They moved their bodies closer, cheek against cheek.

__

You've got a way with words  
You get me smiling even when it hurts  
There's no way to measure what your love is worth  
I can't believe the way you get through to me

"When this case is over, we need to talk." Matt whispered gently in her ear.

Elisa looked up at him, "I think we should too." Her mind told her that she could let him know now how she felt, it was the perfect time, but her heart told her she had to wait.

__

Oh, how I adore you  
Like no one before you  
I love you just the way you are

"Or, maybe tonight? Instead." Matt suggested, they were now looking at each other again. "Would that, be alright?"

Elisa questioned him with her eyes, "Ah, yeah. It'll be great." She told him.

Just then, the last lyrics of the song were sung and the song ended.

They walked together, their hands touching, yet they weren't holding hands. As they sat back down at the table Abhidad Moi motioned for the waiter coming into the room. "Yes, Mr Moi?" The waiter asked.

"Charlie, we are ready for our breakfast now. Please go bring it to us."

"Of course Mr Moi." He said before turning and walking back the way he came.

Abhidad Moi turned to Elisa and Matt, "Detectives Bluestone... and Maza…"

"Excuse me?" Matt said. How did he know they were cops? And for that matter how did he know their last names?

"I know who and what you are. You are New York Detectives. And, I'll tell you now, you will never find the boys in time."

"In time for what?" Matt demanded.

"In time for war. Isn't this what you wanted to discuss Mr Bluestone, or am I sadly mistaken?" He let out a maniacal laugh, "It's time for a war of the gangs, Detectives, you'd better get ready…" His tone changed to a very maniacal one, almost as deep as Goliath's. "For the ride of your life…"

"You son-of-a-bitch Matt snarled, Abhidad Moi jumped up from his seat and tipped the table upwards against Elisa and Matt, stumbling to his feet, Matt took off after him.

A full chase was on, Abhidad Moi went down to the dance area where he seemed to disappear, "The back door!" Elisa yelled out to Matt. They made their way to the back of the room, through the door which led to outside the restaurant, right by the water. 

"There he is!" Matt said, pointing to the end of the building, where Abhidad Moi had gone just seconds ago. "You go that way, I'll got this way."

So that's what Elisa did, she ran down the other side, but she came against a gap between one dock and the other, "Shit!" She turned back and started walking, and then all of a sudden she turned around and ran at the top speed that her legs could carry her. Then, as she neared the edge of the wharf, she jumped into mid-air, the wind seemed to help her 'glide' through the air, but then she started falling, and fast. As she landed she landed hard, screaming out, grabbing at her ankle as the pain intensified. Tears poured out of her eyes like running taps. She screamed out in pain, "Matt!".

Around the other side of the building, Matt jumped forward, flying through the air and knocking Abhidad Moi down as he landed. He turned him over and handcuffed him, "You have the right to remain silent, everything you say can and _will _be used against you in a court of law…" Matt said, continuing to read out the bill of rights.

* * * *

****

23rd Precinct  
Interrogation Room  
A short while later

"Mr Moi, we know that you had something to do with the kidnapping." Matt said, his hands placed firmly on the table as he stood before Abhidad Moi. He wanted to know how Elisa was, she did some pretty bad damage to her ankle, he only hoped that it wasn't a break. "My partner and I…"

Abhidad Moi smiled, "Where is the lovely Detective Maza? And why is _he_ in here for?" He sneered, glaring over at the well built, brunette, brown eyed Officer Tate.

"I'm here to make sure Detective Bluestone doesn't pummel the... leads he needs out of you." Officer Tate replied, his voice deep and cold, as if completely without feeling for anything in the world. Which would probably be about right for his character, he was a loner, and that's just the way he liked it. His apartment was in complete darkness day and night, with sounds of the jungle playing all the time. In short, he was kind of creepy.

Matt pulled out the chair and sat down, pulling out his notepad and laying it out neatly, placing his blue fountain pen next to it. "My partner and I want to know where you have put those boys." 

"Try asking someone that knows." He replied.

Matt growled in his throat and shook his head, "Mr Moi, you _are_ the one that knows where they are." He said, his voice calmer than before.

"Let yourself live that illusion Detective. Even if I did know where the boys were, I wouldn't tell you, because you'd be too late to save them. Of course I can give you a clue… Emilio Martin."

Matt looked at him, "Emilio Martin?"

"That's what I said, Detective." Abhidad Moi replied.

Matt wrote down the name on his notepad, after standing up he went over to Officer Tate, "Keep an eye on him..." He warned before heading over to the door and going out.

* * * *

The pain in Elisa's ankle was still there, throbbing away, but at least it was more like a numb pain, rather than the sharp pains like she was feeling earlier. The doctor down at the hospital placed a support bandage on it and said she'd be fine, as long as she stayed away from work for a whole week. Of course Elisa didn't listen to that. She had a case that needed solved, and she wasn't going to give up on the case just because of a badly sprained ankle. No way, not ever!

"Hey partner, how's the ankle?" She heard Matt ask from behind, she turned around. "I thought the doc would have made you go home and rest?"

Elisa shook her head, "Not a chance... it's not a major injury, so I still have to work." _Come on Maza, don't lie to him, he's your partner. He knows you better than you think know yourself._

"So the doc says it's fine? Good."

Elisa gave Matt a warm smile, "You're the sweetest guy in the world." She laughed.

Matt smiled back, "Thanks Elisa, that's the kindest thing anyone's ever said before."

"Well, I meant it." She told him. "So... how did questioning Abhidad Moi go?"

"Real good, well the Captain says it's a good lead. I'm not so sure."

"What lead is that?" Elisa asked.

"He gave us a name of a guy whom the Captain assumes may have answers to the case."

"So, why are you so doubtful of him for?"

"Well, this is the shocker, it's Emilio Martin." Matt said, silence fell upon the two of them. "The Captain doesn't know about the last case, so I filled her in. She says that he'd have just cause to set up the kidnapping, and for framing Abhidad Moi."

"But Abhidad Moi said that it was time for war." Elisa shook her head, "This is going to get worse isn't it?"

Matt nodded then motioned for her to follow him as he started walking along the hallway, "The diary says, pretty much that it was Dracon and Demona that did it." He begun as they made their way around the corner, Elisa still keeping up with him. "But there's also mention of a third party." He paused and watched the expression in his partners face, "Abhidad Moi said that it was Emilio Martin. I don't believe that it was Emilio, but we have to prove it."

"Yet he's the one that Glasses and the other goons are making pay for stuffing up the deal Dracon had with the gang?"

Matt stopped in his steps, "Exactly. But the way I see it, someone wants Emilio Martin out of the way, and we need to find out who, and why." He said.

"So, we're off to Emilio's, right?"

Matt looked up ahead, "Right."

* * * *

****

Emilio Martin's  
121 Hillcrest Avenue  
Brooklyn  
Almost half an hour later

They stood outside a large two story brick and roughcast home. Polished wood beams supported the front veranda. Elisa looked to her left as both her and Matt made their way up the footpath and onto the porch. "Beautiful gardens." She said admiring the winter plants that adorned the flower beds.

"Yeah." Matt agreed as he stepped up to the front door and pressed the doorbell to the right of the door frame. He stepped back and turned to face Elisa, she was looking around, checking out the place. "Anything out of the ordinary?" He asked. Elisa shook her head. Just then the front door opened, Matt turned around and behind the screen door was an ash blonde, brown eyed, six-foot, average built man in his mid-forties. "Mr Martin?" He asked, the man nodded. "I'm Detective Bluestone, this is Detective Maza..." Matt said, pointing to his left where Elisa now stood. "We'd like to ask you some questions about our case."

Emilio moved uncomfortably behind the screen door, "Doesn't your precinct wear badges?"

Matt smiled faintly and pulled out his badge, as did Elisa. They showed them for a few seconds before returning them to their pockets. "Can we come in please?" Elisa asked. 

After opening the screen door and letting the Detectives in, Emilio closed the front door behind them and led them through to the living room where he allowed them to sit down. "Wh... what case would you like to talk to me about?" He asked them, taking a seat opposite them.

Matt looked at him, he still didn't believe Emilio kidnapped the two boys, it had to be someone else, and when something went wrong, they blamed him for it. "A kidnapping case."

The expression on Emilio's face was grim, "I... know nothing of it."

"What do you know of a Demona? And Tony Dracon?" Elisa asked. _That was stupid and forceful. I'm such an idiot at times. Mental note: Take it easy on suspects when questioning them in a case. Especially suspects with sensitivity such as this guy._

Matt looked over at Elisa, "Mr Martin..." He said, returning his eyes to Emilio.

"I don't know, of this Tony Dracon. Nor this, Demona person. I am most sorry Detectives. I would love to help, but if I don't know the information..."

"We understand." Matt told him. He knew Emilio was innocent, and this proved it.

"Dominique Destine." Elisa blurted out, Emilio sat up straight and froze in his seated position. She raised her eyebrow, "You've heard of her?"

Emilio slowly nodded, "The... the deal... of which she had with the Black Widows... I caused it to go wrong..." The next half hour was in detail of how he had set up the foul up that ended up the cause of Demona's miscarriage. Nowhere in all that he said was there any mention of any personal assistant of Demona's, no mention of Dracon, the Tarantella's, nor the kidnapping of the two boys. "That is... what happened. If I had of known causing that deal to go wrong would have caused Ms Destine's child to be lost, I would never have done the wrongs I did. I just didn't want the gangs gaining any more power than that which they already had."

"We understand Mr Martin, but what you did was, and is, still a punishable offence." Matt said. "We're looking for the two boys, and our main suspect said to come to you. As, as he said, that you have the answers we're looking for."

"What is his, or her name?" Emilio asked. "The suspects?" He added.

Matt looked at Elisa, he couldn't tell Emilio who their main suspect was. It was against regulations. But those thoughts soon passed. "Our suspect, he's Abhidad Moi." Matt told him.

Emilio smiled and gave a short laugh, "My foe.... Well of course he would frame me. He is the one that set up my sons to be murdered by the gangs. You see, Detectives, I caught him doing a deal between several members of the gang, the Spikes. A twelve member gang that started up, several days before my sons murders. They, what did they do… oh yes, they were doing some kind of drug deal, you see Abhidad Moi is an ex drug enforcement agent… and he helps the gangs to evade being caught, for a rather large sum I might add. Anyway, I caught him helping the Spikes. So, as a threat, he had both my sons murdered, made to look like they were in the wrong. Just so that I would remain silent of the deal. And I have, until now."

"How come you've never told the police before?" Elisa asked, she could still remember the news reports Matt had read to her while they were getting ready this morning.

"I did. But, however, they did not believe what I told them was the truth. I could do nothing more than that, except wait."

Matt rubbed his chin, "Did you do something to this guy, just recently, to piss him off?" He asked.

Emilio looked at Matt quizzically, "Nothing that I can... of course. My brother, an ex-marine, he tried to torture Abhidad into giving himself into the police, for setting up the deaths of my sons. But Abhidad refused and threatened my brother also. He has the power to set up, accidents, our eldest brother was in an accident three days after Elliot confronted Abhidad. He did not die though, but he lost the use of his legs." He looked at down at his watch. "Please, I ask that you leave now. I have nothing more to say."

Both Elisa and Matt stood up from the couch. Matt cleared his throat, pulled a card from his coat pocket and handed it to Emilio. "If you do want to talk some more, feel free to ring me up, day or night. And we can set up a time to talk face to face."

Emilio took the card and nodded, "Yes, of course. Good day detectives." He told them before leading them to the front door.

* * * *

****

Interrogation Room  
23rd Precinct  
Manhattan

Abhidad Moi was a major pain in the rear end. He kept making smarmy remarks about Elisa and Matt. "Why don't you just keep your mouth shut." Captain Chavez told him.

"Why Captain... if I do that. You'll never find out the truth." He grinned. "And you don't want that to happen now, do you?" He watched the look on her face, it faded from fearless to fearful. "I sent your little _Detectives _on a, wild goose chase."

Captain Chavez looked over to Officer Tate, _If he wasn't in the room. _Yeah, she had a few wishes to thump Abhidad Moi in the jaw. But, being the Captain of the Detectives, she really couldn't. But what she wouldn't do though to get the chance. "Wild goose chase?" She asked, looking down at the notes in front of her. "Tate, I want you to try get hold of Matt and Elisa. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied, walking out the door, closing it behind him.

Abhidad Moi sat up straight, "Emilio Martin doesn't know anything." He laughed. "Only I know what's going on, because I'm the mastermind. But, your Detectives don't know that." He looked up as the door opened. It was Elisa and Matt.

"Oh, I'd say we do." Matt said as he and Elisa entered the room. He walked up to Captain Chavez, pulled a piece of paper out of his coat pocket and handed it to her. "Abhidad is an ex Drug Enforcement Agent. He seems to like making deals with the different gangs. But somehow, Abhidad's plans were screwed by Emilio Martin, when he stuffed up the deal between Demona and the Black Widows."

At the other side of the table, the echoing sounds of hands clapping together made them look over to Abhidad Moi. "Well done, you've just earned yourself fifty points. Fifty more to go, and you'll get first prize."

"Where are the two boys?" Elisa demanded. Abhidad Moi didn't reply. She thought of threatening him with Goliath coming down and getting the answers they needed out of him, but he most likely didn't even know Goliath to be afraid of him. If only he did though, if only.

"The boys... these will be the two boys whose parents will think of as dead in almost an hour?" He laughed. "You'll never catch the messengers that will be sending the sad news to the families."

Just then, there was knocking on the door behind them, Jarod opened it and motioned for them to come out to the hallway. Closing the door behind them on their way out, Captain Chavez, Matt and Elisa stopped a short distance from the door. "Someone's here to see you." Jarod said, nodding to his left.

The three of them looked down the hall, Wan-Lee stood there, a briefcase under his arm.

Wan-Lee was dressed in the very same suit that they'd seen the D.A wearing the last time they seen him, the day Elisa and Matt were shot. "Manni Greggson, District Attorney, at your service Detectives, Captain." His voice was different, adorned with a slight accent.

"Wan-Lee?" Elisa said in shock. "You're the one who had us sent down to the warehouse."

Wan-Lee smiled, "Yeah, that's not to say I'm proud of it though. Okay, well I am. You two were getting in the way of a very important case, we had to stop you."

"We?" Matt asked. "Who exactly is _we_?"

"I'll put it to you in lamina's terms. We, as in, myself and Mr Moi. Also my client..."

"You're not a lawyer Wan-Lee." Elisa interrupted.

Wan-Lee put his hand up for silence, "Oh, Elisa, my dear sweet and _very_ thick Elisa. Let me tell you now, that my real name is Wan-Lee Manni Greggson, I altered it, for purposes you already know of." He paused for a moment, letting the information sink in for a few moments before continuing. "I had to assess your and Matt's involvement with the gangs, whether or not your knew of them, and how well you knew Dominique Destine and Anthony Dracon. Of course I knew that you knew Dracon. You're the one that has landed him in jail on numerous occasions. But what I didn't realise was that you knew Dominique Destine, or as well as you do."

"Unless this is getting somewhere..." Elisa warned.

"You and I being together, was just a part of the assessment I had to make of you and your partner. When I found out the information I needed to know, I broke us up. And along came Manni Greggson, DA, co-ordinator of your destiny." Wan-Lee removed the briefcase from under his arm and opened it, pulling out a piece of paper. "This is a report I made of you and your partner, the highlighted text is what you need to read."

Elisa took the sheet of paper from Wan-Lee and read it aloud. _"The two Detectives in which this report is written of, have a relationship with Ms Dominique Destine and Mr Anthony Dracon that leads me to believe that they are enemies. With the recent attack on Ms Destine, we have reason to believe that we can persuade Ms Destine into telling Mr Dracon that the loss of her unborn child was caused by Detective Maza. Detective Bluestone also will have a role to play in this charade, as Mr Dracon will be told that he, Detective Bluestone, was the initiator/back bone of Detective Maza's heartless actions. He will also be told that Detective's Bluestone and Maza are in fact lovers, with the knowledge of never being able to have children, and that they didn't want their enemies to have the happiness, that they, could never themselves have."_ Elisa looked up at Wan-Lee, a half formed tear in her eye.

"When you told me you may never be able to have children, I took it as the perfect opportunity to set this up. The fact that you and your partner have a great working relationship made it even better to create the illusion to which Anthony Dracon and Dominique Destine would truly believe what they were told." Wan-Lee said, replacing the silence that was present. "Abhidad Moi didn't expect it to work, but it did. For starters, but then something went wrong, and we ended up with two kidnapped boys on our hands."

"Where are the boys?" Elisa asked.

"They're dead."

"They're not dead." Matt said. "Abhidad Moi wouldn't want them killed, they're an asset, if they were dead... they wouldn't be."

Wan-Lee straightened his posture, taking in a breath, "You're right, they're not dead. In fact, the place from your past that haunts you day and night holds the key to their location."

Captain Chavez nodded at Jarod, motioning for him to take Wan-Lee into custody. As Jarod led the man away she turned to Elisa and Matt, "You two need to figure this out. Find out what he was referring to, we need to get those boys back, and within the hour." She said before following Jarod down the hall.

Matt turned to Elisa, "The warehouse?" He suggested.

"That's the only place from my past that haunts me, you?" She asked.

All Matt did was look down, the pain in his face was enough to say that it was the same for him. 

* * * *

****

Empty Cargo Warehouse  
Manhattan Docks  
A short while later

The warehouse was eerie and filled with horror, the memories of the past were just the beginning of gut feelings that told both Elisa and Matt that they shouldn't be where they were. It was an idea to leave the main entrance open, wide open, so they could let some light into the building, just so that they could find their way around a little easier. As they walked further into the building a cold gust of wind slithered past.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Matt said, at the sight of a flashing light toward the centre of the building. 

Elisa clicked on her torch, shining it over toward the light, "I don't think its human." She joked, hoping to ease the horror of the entire situation.

Matt turned and smiled at her, "It's probably an android, knowing our luck." He laughed.

Elisa laughed back, "Yeah we seem to have this thing for attracting non-desirable's, don't we?" It was killing her inside, maybe all this joking about was making it worse. No, it was probably the fear that they could end up getting ambushed that made her feel worse.

A sudden silence between them as they heard a second-at-a-time beep, "Yeah we…." Matt trailed off, stopping in mid sentence as the centre of the building lit up, "Oh my…"

"Gosh…" Elisa finished what Matt was saying. "What the hell is that?" She asked.

Matt stepped up to the table in front of them, it had a small box on it, with the flashing light they seen before sitting on top of it, just above the box enough so they could see it from a distance. The beeping they heard before was still going, but as Matt looked closer at the box, he noticed that there was a timer on the box, counting downwards.

__

"21… 20… 19… 18… 17… 16…"

Just then a cassette player switched on and begun playing a tape, there was a man's voice speaking to them, "The boys are at the Abhidad Moi owned dockside motel, The Rockside Motel. But then again, you two aren't going to make it to the motel now, are you? Ahahahahaha…" The man let out a maniacal laugh and then the tape turned off.

"_9… 8… 7…"_

Elisa and Matt looked at each other, this was the last six seconds of their lives, "I guess this is it." Matt said, he quickly walked up to Elisa and pulled her down for cover as the last three seconds clicked over on the timer.

"_3… 2… 1…"_

Elisa held her hands over her ears, waiting for the bomb to explode, but nothing. Matt stood, helping Elisa to stand up, he looked over at the bomb. It was frozen on the number 'one', "What, no big boom?" He asked.

Elisa pulled him away, making a run for the entrance.

As they came out of the entrance door they heard one last loud beep, and then the bomb went off. It came thundering towards them. Chunks of stone, wood, tin and glass came raining down like hail, another explosion and their running became flying as they were flown across the other side of the road.

The noise of the explosion settled down, and all that could be heard was the sparks of the flames and the sirens from the emergency vehicles as they came screaming down the streets of Manhattan. Slowly Elisa lifted herself off the ground and looked up, she could feel something wet stream down the cheek of her face, wiping it away and looking down at the wet stuff on her hand, she seen that it was blood, her own?

Matt pushed himself up and looked at Elisa, "That building really sucks."

"I hate it as much, no, _more_, than I hate Dracon." Elisa replied, she stood up as two fire engines came around the corner up the road. "Three bad landings in one day, two for me, one for you." She joked as Matt stood up, clutching at the small of his back.

"So, it's tit for tat, huh?" He asked, Elisa just smiled. "Come on, we've got two boys to rescue." He said.

* * * *

****

Rockside Motel  
15 minutes later

The building looked as though it had just recently been closed up. Was it a permanent closure? Or just for renovations? 

They'd had to force their way into the building through the front door which was locked. "You know we could get in big trouble for entering a building without a permit." Elisa commented.

Matt looked at her, "I know." He said, switching on his torch, the building was as if in complete darkness. He shone the torch toward the right, and then the left, each way was blocked up, there was only a clear passageway ahead of them. "I think someone has been expecting us."

"No Matt, what gave you that idea?" Elisa asked with sarcasm and laughed. She looked away as he shone the torch in her face.

"There's a light up ahead..." Matt said after apologising. As he pulled out his gun he looked over at Elisa, "If anything happens in there Elisa, there's something, something I want you to know…"

"Matt… nothing's going to happen in there…" Elisa replied, removing her gun from the holster beneath her jacket and switching the safety off. "So don't… okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Matt replied. He watched as Elisa started walking ahead of him, _I just hope nothing happens to you._

As Matt followed Elisa toward the way ahead he started sweating, was it nervousness? Fear? Or was his mind making something out of nothing and not letting him know what it was? Maybe it was the mere fact of embarrassment at the way Elisa reacted when he wanted to tell her that no matter what happens in there, he just wanted her to know how much he loved her.

In the room in front there was a ruffling noise, Elisa raised her hand, "Did you hear that?" She whispered.

Matt nodded and crouched down by her side, "There's someone, or _something_ in there." He whispered to her, nodding toward the entrance ahead, which was at least five feet away. "Cover me." He told her before standing up and walking straight ahead.

Elisa followed behind him, being careful to check behind them as well as in front. Sliding along the wall, they both moved silently until they could clearly see into the room, "There they are." Elisa said, cautious not to speak too loud. On the far side of the room the two boys were tied up on chairs, their eyes had blindfolds covering them, and rope was tied around their arms, legs and chest. "Those poor kids." She whispered.

Matt looked back to Elisa and then to the boys, they seemed alone, "This is too easy." Poking his head around the corner, Matt carefully checked to see if there was anyone else in the room. Turning back to Elisa he leant closer to her, "One on the right, didn't see anyone else."

"Ready?"

Matt turned to look at the boys one more time, "Yeah." He replied.

Carefully and quietly making their way into the room, Matt could see the man he saw a few minutes before, he was sleeping on the couch in front of the television. "The boys." Matt whispered, nodding over to the boys, "Untie them, I'll watch this guy." He said.

Elisa stepped over to the boys, untying the blind folds first, "Shh…" She churned them, "Don't make a sound." Fear was written on both their faces, more fear than even she had of the warehouse. A fear she shouldn't of had, being a cop and all. As she went to untie the rope behind the Tarantella's leader's son she heard a click, turning around she raised her gun. The 'guard' of the boys was awake and standing with an automatic machine gun aimed at Matt. 

The gruff bastard was grinning while chewing some fresh gum he'd shoved in his mouth, "Hey! Leave the brats alone, and get the hell away from them. Now!" He screamed.

Elisa let go of the rope and stepped away, "Put the gun down." She warned.

"No, you put your gun down!"

Matt stepped closer to the guard, "Put your damn gun down."

"Put your weapon down." Elisa said firmly.

The big brute aimed his gun up to Matt's head, "No wench… you put down yours or I'll blow your partners brains out over the damn wall!"

Fear stricken inside and out, Elisa set her gun down on the ground.

"That's more like it." The man kept his gun raised up to Matt's head and pulled out another gun and aimed it at Elisa, carefully stepping around the edge of the room, keeping an eye on both officers. He walked up near Elisa and kicked her gun away. "You're coming with me." He said, putting his hand gun in his belt and grabbing her tightly, holding the machine gun up to her head.

Matt kept his gun on him at all times, with the first clear shot he had he'd shoot, "Come on, let her go. Taking a cop hostage? You're already up on kidnapping charges, don't add one more to the list."

The man pressed the weapon hard against Elisa's throat, and hid his face behind her head, he laughed maniacally as Matt stepped forward. "You'll never get me unless you go through her to get me."

"Let her go!" Matt warned. But the man just laughed again. "Let my partner go."

The man stepped backward, he wasn't going to give up his hostage. But that was foiled when Elisa squirmed out of his grip, swung around and kneed him where it hurt most. He fell to his knees, dropping the guns from his hands and clutching his groin.

Elisa unhooked the cuffs from the back of her belt and proceeded to cuff the man up. "You have the right to remain silent…." She continued reading him his rights as Matt ran over and untied the boys. 

"You boys okay?" Matt asked, they just ran up to him and hugged him. Happy to be rescued from the horror they had been through for the last few days. They cried hard, saying they wanted their Mommies. He almost cried himself.

* * * *

****

Central Park  
Almost an hour later

"This is where they both agreed to meet." The Captain said, "Just the leaders and a few men." She added.

Elisa smiled, "At least the boys will get to be back with their families." She said, looking over to the boys who were standing with Matt by the lake, _He's so good with kids. _"If you'll excuse me Captain." She said before walking over to the lake. "Looking forward to seeing your families?" She asked the two boys.

"I can't wait to see Papa, he will be very happy to see me." Gary the son of Blake Sway, the leader of the Black Widows said.

Whereas the Tarantella's Leader, Jace Picardo's son Luc didn't say a word he just stepped closer to Matt, brushing his fringe out of his face. "You okay Luc?" Matt asked. Luc started sobbing into Matt's stomach so he leant down to him, "It's okay mate, your mommy's going to be here soon, real soon." He gave him a hug, cradling the young boy as he sobbed hard into his chest.

"Poor guy, he must be really shaken up by it all." Elisa commented, Matt looked up at her, the blonde boy was crying even more now, screaming like a little baby does when it's upset. "You're really good with kids."

"Nah, not really." Matt sort of hesitated.

Elisa shook her head, "No you are, I noticed back when we helped out down at the pool teaching those kids to swim. You're really good with them."

Matt blushed, "Well, thanks. So are you."

Elisa laughed, "Yeah, I _so_ have a great relationship with kids."

"Nah you do, I'll bet you'll make a great mother someday." Matt told her, he didn't see the pain that was inside her, eating her alive.

"If I ever have any." She laughed, it hurt inside, why didn't she just ignore what he said, and pretend she didn't hear? Because it was too delicate a subject to ignore. 

Just as Matt was about to say something else to Elisa two cars pulled up, they were black Sedan's. 

In one car was Jace Picardo, and in the other was Blake Sway. Deadly looks were exchanged between them and their wives. _Why can't they get along for two seconds of their lives,_ Matt thought. He smiled as both young boys ran to their families. Screams of joy and happiness could have been heard as much as a mile away as both mothers hugged their little boy.

"Thank you." Mrs Picardo cried, Elisa placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded, "Mine husband and I... we are most grateful to you for saving our son."

"We're just glad to have got them back for you Mrs Picardo." Elisa replied with a smile, it was so great to see happy families reunited, especially this one. Without a reunion there surely would have been a war between the gangs. "I can only imagine how you feel to finally be reunited with your son Mrs Picardo, he's, one really special little boy. He certainly touched my heart."

"You are most wonderful person... Detective, may the Lord bless you and your family for many years." Mrs Picardo said before turning away, taking her son over to their car and after herself, Luc and her husband Jace climbed in the car, they were driven away by their chauffeur.

As she turned around she seen Gary give Matt a hug goodbye. "Thank you Matt." He said sweetly before being taken away by his family. Elisa felt sorry for him, the poor boy, his mother was excited to finally have him back, but all she gave him was one hug, and that was it.

"I think he's more afraid of his family than he was of being kidnapped." Captain Chavez said to her from behind, Elisa turned around. "Some families are like that though, I think the mother cared, but the father, it was like he didn't seem to care, except enough to have wanted to start a war anyway."

"I'm just glad we saved them before there _was_ a war in the city, a gang related war would... would have torn families apart."

Matt stepped up behind Elisa, placing his hand on her shoulder he agreed with her, "At least the boys are back where they belong." He said, removing his hand as Elisa shrugged him away. "Captain, can I have a private word with Elisa?" He asked. The Captain nodded and walked away.

Elisa turned around to face him, "We did good today Elisa, real good." He told her.

"Yeah we did." Elisa replied. 

Matt went to step closer when she pushed him away. "What's wrong?" He asked gently, trying not to sound hurt.

"Nothing... before, you said I'd be great with kids..."

Matt looked away, "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot... Elisa, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Elisa smiled, "I know, it's just, I think about it all the time. Matt, no guy wants to be with a woman that can't have kids."

"Lots of guys do."

"Why?" She asked.

Silence

"Love." Matt replied.

Silence again.

"I wish I knew what it was to be truly loved again." Elisa replied, though she had this really strong feeling inside her that the love she felt for Matt was felt back by him for her. She had the chance to hear him tell her, but she told him not to. _I can't believe I brushed him off like that. _"Matt..." She begun, but was interrupted by Captain Chavez.

"Everything sorted?" The Captain asked. Neither of them replied. "Right, that silence has earned you both three weeks off work, with pay. _But_, if I find out that either of you have so much as talked to one another, you will be docked two days of your pay. Am I understood?"

"What? What did we do wrong?" Matt demanded.

"Nothing, but I've seen enough tension thrown between you two in the last couple of days to see that you need a break from both work, _and_ each other." She was about to walk away when she turned back to them, "And listen, I don't give a flying fox trot if you want to discuss your home lives at work, but your partners for gods sake, and if it interferes with your partnership, don't damn well talk about it. Alright?"

Neither Elisa or Matt protested, they simply exchanged looks.

"That means, you two get back to the precinct, sign out, then get the hell home. And, take separate rides home, the rules are implicated as of this minute."

Elisa looked from the Captain back to Matt, "See you in three weeks then."

"Yeah." Matt replied. "I'll see ya."

They both turned and walked away.

As Captain Chavez let out a sigh, Jarod walked up and stopped by her side. "Elisa and Matt have troubles inside them that they need to see through if they want to keep working together as well as they do." Captain Chavez commented. "Thanks for pointing it out to me just before, I wouldn't have noticed otherwise."

Jarod looked at her, "They're a good team, hopefully it will help to have the three weeks away from each other."

* * * *

****

24 December, 1999  
Diane and Peter Maza's new residence  
(not far from Central Park)

Elisa looked at the clock on her parent's living room wall. "Five twenty five." She said aloud. After letting out a sigh she looked around the room, it was all one big Maza Christmas. Her mother invited her a few days ago, at first she said no. But her mother pushed her to come, because Beth, Derek (or Talon as he liked to call himself) and Maggie would be there, along with Officer Morgan, whom Beth invited over, and the other mutates. _Like I really want to be around lots of people. I just want to be alone this Christmas, but no, Mom had to make me come and spend time with the family. _

It was one big Christmas celebration, as always, every year. This time of course the distant relatives, the likes of cousins, and Aunt's and Uncles weren't present. But that was because Talon and the mutates were there. Her parents, and Beth still weren't quite used to the mutates, but they'd accepted them as part of their lives. But their relatives weren't so accepting. 

She smiled and nodded at Maggie as she walked past, she was expecting her and Talon's first child early next year. Elisa couldn't wait to see her and Talon's baby when it arrived; it'd be her first nephew, or niece. He or she would be very special to Elisa and to all the Maza family. Not only because it would be the first child born to any of the Maza children, but because Talon and Maggie had the genetic build of big cats.

"Elisa my dear. Come help me dish up dinner." Diane called her daughter. Elisa smiled and then headed over to help. "Set the cutlery. Then come back here and help me with the hot dishes please."

Elisa nodded. Just because she didn't want to be there didn't mean she had to have a stink Christmas. After all, there was more to life than thinking about Matt. A smile came on her face as she remembered how Matt had taken her outside to show her the lights in the iced over pond at the hospital. And how upset he had been because she had had that pain in her stomach from standing up too soon. 

She felt so bad. "I wish he was here…" She sighed, before removing enough plates from the cupboard and heading out to the dining room. He was so close to saying how he felt, and she told him, 'don't'. _I wish he had of said it, but… it would have made things so complicated._

"What was that dear?" Diane asked.

As Elisa came back in from placing the plates on the table she looked at her mother, "Nothing Mom. Just talking to myself." She replied.

"I heard you say, 'I wish he was here'."

Elisa opened the knife and fork drawer, "It wasn't anything, I was just, wishing Cagney was here, that was all."

"It was not Cagney whom you were talking about." Diane looked at Elisa. She looked right back at her mother with a strong, '_excuse me'_ look. "It was Matt, wasn't it?"

"What?" Elisa exclaimed. "I don't know what you're talking about." She turned away from her mother, it was so embarrassing for her. Was she that see-through that her feelings for Matt were showing on the inside and outside? 

"How come you didn't invite him, my dear?"

Elisa shook her head, "I didn't invite him because… because…"

"You didn't want to?" Diane pushed.

"No!" Elisa replied loudly, "No mom, I didn't invite him because, Captain Chavez said that we weren't allowed to see or talk to each other while we have this three week break."

After removing the tray of vegetables from the oven Diane turned to Elisa, "It's more than that, you have strong feelings for him don't you?" She asked, placing the tray onto the bench.

Elisa stopped in her steps, frozen stiff to her very soul. "No... no I don't... we're partners..."

Diane let out a sigh, "I know pinings for the one we are falling in love with when I see them."

"I'm not falling in love with my partner Mom..." She stopped, closed her eyes, she saw flashbacks of when they were at the hospital when he took her outside, and how she fell into his arms. Opening her eyes she wrapped her arms around her body, "I'm not falling in love with him Mom..."

"You said that already."

Elisa looked up at Diane, "I am in love with him." She confessed. She looked away wiping away the tears in her eyes. "I've got to get out of here." She cried, grabbing her black overcoat from the coat rack in the hall and heading out the front door. As she stepped out the front door she seen a ad for Central Park across the road on the side of a truck. She needed time to think, so she headed toward the park.

* * * *

****

Central Park  
6:05 PM

As a cold wind passed by where he stood, a chill went up Matt's spine, as if someone had just walked over his grave. What was that feeling really? A part of his body telling him that he should have worn some warmer clothing? Probably was, because that's what he should have done. Or was it a warning that something was about to happen?

Starting to walk along the path of the park, Matt let out a long sigh. He didn't have a family, a girlfriend or any friends to spend Christmas Eve with. Sure the Captain went around to see him almost an hour ago and invited him to the Precincts party that they were throwing this evening, but he didn't want to go. Who wanted to watch a bunch of cops getting plastered? _Just a bunch of drunks with a badge and a gun. _

Okay so they didn't get that drunk, at least not all of them. But those that did would get really nasty, not only to their colleagues, but also to their families and the criminals they'd try to apprehend while they were over the limit.

To be completely honest, he was quite happy to not have gone to the party, at least he could be alone with his thoughts, and try figure some things out. What better place to do it than Central Park?

Looking down at his watch, he felt like his life was a waste. Surely there was better things he could have done with his life. Like never have told his father about Julie. They'd still be together now. 

No, they wouldn't! They didn't have anything in common. It would never have lasted. And what about Elisa? If he'd never joined the Bureau he would never have been kicked off and had to join the Police Force. And had he never done that, he would never have been partnered up with Elisa. They wouldn't have been through everything together that they had been, and he would never have fallen in love with her. If only.

"Detective Bluestone."

Matt swung around upon hearing his name, Jarod was standing there, dressed in black pants and a leather jacket. "Starr, what's up?"

"I haven't seen you since the other day, or Detective Maza…" Jarod said. At the sound of Elisa's name Matt looked away. "Is something the problem?" He asked.

Matt looked back to Jarod, "Yeah, we had a sort of argument over some things. Captain made us take three weeks off work, we're not allowed to talk to each other until we get back."

"From the looks of things the other day, I thought you'd sorted it out."

Matt smiled, "We did, but things sort of… down at the Rockside Restaurant, we slow danced. And, after that, things were still okay… but then, it was like she put up a wall between us."

"It sounds like she was shielding herself from getting hurt."

"All I wanted to do was let her know that whatever happened in there, I loved her. But, it was like she knew what I was wanting to say, but wouldn't let me say it."

Jarod stepped up to Matt and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Sometimes we'd rather not know the truth, especially when there's a chance that we could lose those that we love." He said, "It'll all happen in its own time Matt. I'll see you though, I've got a train to catch."

"Oh right, well thanks Jarod, for the talk. Take care."

"I will, and you too." Jarod said as he walked away.

Matt turned around, maybe Jarod was right, maybe hearing the truth can make people scared of what will happen with those they love. "But what about the saying, _and the truth shall set you free_?"

Walking around the corner he felt himself freeze in his steps, over by the lake he could see Elisa standing there. He stood there and watched for a few minutes, the way her hair swayed gently around her face. She looked different, dressed in a red dress and black over coat. _I thought she was at her parent's new place with her family. _

Putting his hands further down into his pockets, Matt looked around, there was no one else there, just Elisa and him. He wanted to go talk to her, but he couldn't, Captain's orders.

He went to turn and walk away when Elisa turned around, their eyes met. She knew he was there now, he couldn't just walk away and ignore her. That's not what friends do, at least not him, he couldn't do that to her.

Stopping a short distant in front of Elisa, Matt could see that her eyes were reddened from the tears she'd been crying. "Are you okay? Why were you crying?" He asked.

Elisa wiped new tears from her eyes, "Thinking about... how I stopped you from saying what you wanted to say. Back when we rescued the two boys." _And for not telling you how I feel, I've told everyone but you._

Matt smiled, "In a way, it's good you stopped me, otherwise we wouldn't be here now. And had the past few days to think about things." He said.

Elisa looked at Matt with questionable eyes, "What's so great about where we are now?" She asked, tears formed in the corner of her eyes and streamed down her cheek.

Matt stepped closer to Elisa, wiping the tears from her cheek he then nodded toward the iced lake, "The lake, and the way it sparkles at night, even when it's covered with ice." He said softly, before looking down at Elisa. "And you, you're the most wonderful woman I know…" He gently traced the outline of her jaw down to her chin before wiping away the tear that sat there. As he went to move closer Elisa placed her hands against his chest, at first he thought she was going to push him away, but instead she leant closer at the same time as him. He then took one of her hands in his before touching the side of her cheek again, "There's something that I've wanted to tell you for the longest time... I love you Elisa." He cried.

They leant in slowly, kissing gently for the first time. The kiss was a long, soft and very loving one. As they parted from their kiss Elisa smiled, a tear streamed out the corners of both her eyes. "I love you too Matt." She replied. He loved her, just as she loved him, finally they'd told each other. As they leant in and kissed once again the winter skies above started to gently drop snowflakes around them.


End file.
